.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Etienne Doirat (circa 1675-1732) is one of a few ébénistes from the Régence period who is recorded to have stamped his work, albeit intermittently, allowing his output to be well defined and greatly facilitating attributions. Doirat set up his workshop in the Cour de la Contrescarpe des Fosses de la Bastille in 1726, and in 1731 leased a store in the fashionable rue Saint-Honoré.
The overall form and above all espagnolettes (or distinctive female mounts) to the angles are recurrent features throughout his oeuvre. The inventory taken following his death in 1732, which effectively discloses that Doirat kept exclusive control of his bronze mounts - not only retaining the lead models or 'chefs modeles' but also the unchased mounts and finished examples allows us to attribute certain pieces on the basis of the mounts alone. The espagnolette mounts indeed appear on many pieces by or firmly attributed to Doirat, amongst which a commode in the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris, a further commode from the Bouvier Collection in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, and a bureau plat from the Collection of Comte de La Riboisière, now in the Huntington Collection, San Marino (J-D Augarde, 'Etienne Doirat Menuisier en Ebène', The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, Vol. 13, 1985 p. 48, no. 26, fig 11; pp. 49-50, no. 33, fig. 15; and pp. 50-51, no. 37, fig. 18, respectively). Further related examples by Doirat sold at auction and featuring these distinctive espagnolette mounts, include a commode sold 'Arts of France', Christie's, New York, 2 November 2000, lot 207 ($99,500 including premium), a further example sold, Christie's, Monaco, 13 December 1998, lot 328, and another offered 'Steinitz', Christie's, Paris, 20 June 2012, lot 15.
The overall form and above all espagnolettes (or distinctive female mounts) to the angles are recurrent features throughout his oeuvre. The inventory taken following his death in 1732, which effectively discloses that Doirat kept exclusive control of his bronze mounts - not only retaining the lead models or 'chefs modeles' but also the unchased mounts and finished examples allows us to attribute certain pieces on the basis of the mounts alone. The espagnolette mounts indeed appear on many pieces by or firmly attributed to Doirat, amongst which a commode in the Musée du Petit Palais in Paris, a further commode from the Bouvier Collection in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris, and a bureau plat from the Collection of Comte de La Riboisière, now in the Huntington Collection, San Marino (J-D Augarde, 'Etienne Doirat Menuisier en Ebène', The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, Vol. 13, 1985 p. 48, no. 26, fig 11; pp. 49-50, no. 33, fig. 15; and pp. 50-51, no. 37, fig. 18, respectively). Further related examples by Doirat sold at auction and featuring these distinctive espagnolette mounts, include a commode sold 'Arts of France', Christie's, New York, 2 November 2000, lot 207 ($99,500 including premium), a further example sold, Christie's, Monaco, 13 December 1998, lot 328, and another offered 'Steinitz', Christie's, Paris, 20 June 2012, lot 15.