Lot Essay
This elegant side table by Pierre Roussel (maître in 1745) is adorned with red, gilt and polychrome Chinese lacquer; its slender legs, shaped top and pronounced déhanchement to the frieze further enhancing its delicate shape.
Roussel's oeuvre, can be related to that of fellow ébéniste Antoine Matthieu Criaerd (maître in 1747) both of whom frequently used Chinese lacquer to adorn their most precious productions and shared specialist bronziers, such as Turchin, Ravrio and the doreur Trufot to further embellish their work (P. Verlet, French Cabinetmakers of the Eighteenth Century, New York, 1965, p.131, fig.4).
Among the closely related examples of side tables by Criaerd featuring such distinctive déhanchement to the frieze, similarly-shaped galleried tops and slender legs, a side table was sold at Christie's, London, 18 June 1987, lot 154 (ill. in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIè Siècle, Paris, 1998, p.214), and another sold at Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 10 June 1966, lot 121; while as a third related example by Christophe Wolff (maître in 1755) was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 7 December 1991, lot 66.
Roussel's oeuvre, can be related to that of fellow ébéniste Antoine Matthieu Criaerd (maître in 1747) both of whom frequently used Chinese lacquer to adorn their most precious productions and shared specialist bronziers, such as Turchin, Ravrio and the doreur Trufot to further embellish their work (P. Verlet, French Cabinetmakers of the Eighteenth Century, New York, 1965, p.131, fig.4).
Among the closely related examples of side tables by Criaerd featuring such distinctive déhanchement to the frieze, similarly-shaped galleried tops and slender legs, a side table was sold at Christie's, London, 18 June 1987, lot 154 (ill. in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIè Siècle, Paris, 1998, p.214), and another sold at Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, 10 June 1966, lot 121; while as a third related example by Christophe Wolff (maître in 1755) was sold at Sotheby's, New York, 7 December 1991, lot 66.