Lot Essay
The present bureau à cylindre by Pierre Roussel (maître in 1745) is related to several bureaux by fellow ébéniste and retailer Léonard Boudin (maître in 1761), with whom Roussel collaborated, among which a bureau formerly in the collections of the Margrave and Grand Duke of Baden, sold Sotheby's, Neues Schloss, Baden-Baden, 6 October 1995, lot 1019, and a further example sold, Ader-Laurin (Paris), 9-10 March 1956, lot 167.
The collaboration between the two ébénistes is further evidenced by the pair of petits secrétaires retailed by Boudin and attributed to Roussel, sold from the Champalimaud Collection, Christie's, London, 6-7 July 2005, lot 55 (£164,800 with premium).
The 'J.G.' brand (for Josefs Gilde) with the crowned coat-of-arms of the city of Amsterdam which features on one of the drawer linings, is that of the Amsterdam Guild of Saint Joseph and was employed following a decree by the city council, dated 29 January 1771, which put a ban on the import of foreign furniture (R.J. Baarsen, 'French furniture in Amsterdam in 1771', Furniture History 29 (1993), pp. 114-128).
The collaboration between the two ébénistes is further evidenced by the pair of petits secrétaires retailed by Boudin and attributed to Roussel, sold from the Champalimaud Collection, Christie's, London, 6-7 July 2005, lot 55 (£164,800 with premium).
The 'J.G.' brand (for Josefs Gilde) with the crowned coat-of-arms of the city of Amsterdam which features on one of the drawer linings, is that of the Amsterdam Guild of Saint Joseph and was employed following a decree by the city council, dated 29 January 1771, which put a ban on the import of foreign furniture (R.J. Baarsen, 'French furniture in Amsterdam in 1771', Furniture History 29 (1993), pp. 114-128).