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Lot Essay
Embellished with an intricate design of marquetry incorporating finely-chased ormolu mounts and inset with a painted panel to the top, this superb gueridon is en suite with a pair of card tables originally from the Russian Imperial collections at the Palace of Gatchina, which were sold Christie's Geneva, 18 November 1974, lot 120. The gueridon is slightly more richly mounted but they may conceivably have been intended for the same room, the gueridon as a central focal point flanked by the card-tables. The Gatchina Estate was acquired in 1766 by Catherine the Great as a gift for her lover, Count Grogori Orlov (d. 1783). The Empress commissioned Antonio Rinaldi (d. 1796) to build a country residence which took six years to construct and was completed in 1772. Following Orlov's death, the Empress re-purchased the estate from his heirs and gave it to her eldest son, Grand Duke Paul and Maria Feorodovna, who subsequently embarked on an amitious scheme of refurbishment carried out by Vincenzo Brenna (d. 1820). Important purchases were made of French and Russian furniture and works of art, porcelain and tapestries and it is probable that the present gueridon and card-tables were acquired at this date. After the Grand Duke's accession to the throne in 1796, further alterations were made and numerous important old master pictures were transferred there from the Hermitage (E.Ducamp, 'Gatchina', Paris, 1992 pp. 7-16).
Both the gueridon and the card-tables are decorated to the frieze with an unusual pattern of simulated fluting with beaded and leaf mounts against two different and contrasting timbers. The gueridon is centred by a beautiful painted panel with a cappriccio scene which is framed by a broad border inlaid with foliage. Christian Meyer (born c. 1750) and Heinrich Gambs (1765-1831), cabinet-makers of German origin who supplied luxurious furniture to the Imperial Court, both executed various related tables incorporating precious panels to the top but the style and execution of the present gueridon relates more to the oeuvre of Gambs.
Both the gueridon and the card-tables are decorated to the frieze with an unusual pattern of simulated fluting with beaded and leaf mounts against two different and contrasting timbers. The gueridon is centred by a beautiful painted panel with a cappriccio scene which is framed by a broad border inlaid with foliage. Christian Meyer (born c. 1750) and Heinrich Gambs (1765-1831), cabinet-makers of German origin who supplied luxurious furniture to the Imperial Court, both executed various related tables incorporating precious panels to the top but the style and execution of the present gueridon relates more to the oeuvre of Gambs.