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Lot Essay
Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, maître in 1755.
The form and decoration of this refined tricoteuse can be attributed to one of the pre-eminent French cabinet-makers, Roger Vandercruse (1728-1799), known as Lacroix. A virtually identical tricoteuse stamped RVLC, which only lacks the lower tier, was sold from the collection of Lily & Edmond J. Safra at Sotheby's, New York, 20-21 October 2011, lot 994. A truly distinctive feature to both pieces is the Chinese style fretwork in the supports. This motif rarely appears in French furniture and reflects the influence of Chinese derived fretwork designs first popularized in the pattern books published by English cabinet-makers. Joseph Gengenbach, known as Canabas was one of the few other ébénistes to employ fretwork which he used in the lower panels of two firescreens. One is illustrated in G. Janneau and P. Devinoy, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, pl. 176, formerly in the collection Serge Roche et Rotel.
Lacroix supplied an extensive amount of furniture to the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, as well as to the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. Lacroix was one of the first Parisian ébénistes to use large veneers of bois citronnier which emphasized the natural contrast of the clear timber against the richly-colored ebony, amaranth or green-stained fruitwood. It was frequently used as a ground for his trelliswork marquetry, a stylistic approach which would only become fashionable again half a century later under Charles X.
Further related tables using minor variations of Lacroix's characteristic trelliswork marquetry can be seen in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp.750, 752-3 and in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, pp.282-3. The brand seen on the underside of the top and reproduced here is currently unidentified.
The form and decoration of this refined tricoteuse can be attributed to one of the pre-eminent French cabinet-makers, Roger Vandercruse (1728-1799), known as Lacroix. A virtually identical tricoteuse stamped RVLC, which only lacks the lower tier, was sold from the collection of Lily & Edmond J. Safra at Sotheby's, New York, 20-21 October 2011, lot 994. A truly distinctive feature to both pieces is the Chinese style fretwork in the supports. This motif rarely appears in French furniture and reflects the influence of Chinese derived fretwork designs first popularized in the pattern books published by English cabinet-makers. Joseph Gengenbach, known as Canabas was one of the few other ébénistes to employ fretwork which he used in the lower panels of two firescreens. One is illustrated in G. Janneau and P. Devinoy, Le Meuble Léger en France, Paris, 1952, pl. 176, formerly in the collection Serge Roche et Rotel.
Lacroix supplied an extensive amount of furniture to the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, as well as to the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. Lacroix was one of the first Parisian ébénistes to use large veneers of bois citronnier which emphasized the natural contrast of the clear timber against the richly-colored ebony, amaranth or green-stained fruitwood. It was frequently used as a ground for his trelliswork marquetry, a stylistic approach which would only become fashionable again half a century later under Charles X.
Further related tables using minor variations of Lacroix's characteristic trelliswork marquetry can be seen in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp.750, 752-3 and in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, pp.282-3. The brand seen on the underside of the top and reproduced here is currently unidentified.