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拍品專文
This elegant table à plusieurs fins inset with a ‘Wedgwood’ jasperware plaque is a rare example of Martin-Guillaume Biennais’s oeuvre in ébénisterie.
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (d. 1843) settled in Paris in 1789 as a tabletier and furniture maker before becoming goldsmith by appointment to Napoleon I and to the principal monarchs of Europe. In 1790, he acquired the boutique Au singe violet, where he specialised in the production of richly fitted nécessaires, games-tables and compact and refined pieces of furniture.
As revealed by the stamp to the table ‘Au singe Violet’, it was designed and made at the end of the 18th century, probably during the Directoire period. The harmonious lines and finely finished materials are a clear legacy of the craftmanship of Louis XVI’s period, combined with avant-garde decorative elements such as the paw feet largely used during the Empire period. The polished brass inlays to the legs relate to the work of David Roentgen and the delicate trellis ormolu frieze relates to motifs used by Philippe-Claude Montigny (F. Quéré, ‘L’ébéniste Philippe-Claude Montigny’, L’Estampille – L’Objet d’Art, no. 423, April 2007, Paris, ill. p. 60). The inset Wedgwood plaque, for its part, is in the tradition of furniture mounted with porcelain plaques pioneered by the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and continued by Dominique Daguerre, who acquired a monopoly in the import and retail of Wedgwood ceramic in 1787.
Jasperware was developed by Wedgwood around 1775 and plaques of this ceramic material evoking sculpture in the antique manner were quickly being used in England to decorate both chimneypieces and furniture. This new type of ceramic had an instantaneous appeal in France as already in the 1770s the Royal porcelain factory at Sèvres started to produce imitations (Aileen Dawson, 'French Biscuit Porcelain in the Style of Wedgwood's Jasperware', Apollo, August 1982, pp. 94-102). The present plaque, depicting a Sacrifice to Hymen, is reminiscent of an oval plaque modelled in 1778 by John Flaxman for the Wedgwood manufactory after a design by Michelangelo Pergolesi. Its large scale, minor variants and slightly darker blue colour suggest it is a product of the Sèvres manufactory.
Martin-Guillaume Biennais, marchand tabletier and éventailliste, was specialised after the revolution in the production and retail of luxurious dressing and game accessories avidly sought by the new bourgeoisie. These products were occasionally delivered in precious mahogany boxes, some of which were inlaid with jasperware plaques such as the jewellery casket on stand supplied to Joséphine Bonaparte, sold at Osenat, Fontainebleau, 9 June 2013, lot 146.
Martin-Guillaume Biennais (d. 1843) settled in Paris in 1789 as a tabletier and furniture maker before becoming goldsmith by appointment to Napoleon I and to the principal monarchs of Europe. In 1790, he acquired the boutique Au singe violet, where he specialised in the production of richly fitted nécessaires, games-tables and compact and refined pieces of furniture.
As revealed by the stamp to the table ‘Au singe Violet’, it was designed and made at the end of the 18th century, probably during the Directoire period. The harmonious lines and finely finished materials are a clear legacy of the craftmanship of Louis XVI’s period, combined with avant-garde decorative elements such as the paw feet largely used during the Empire period. The polished brass inlays to the legs relate to the work of David Roentgen and the delicate trellis ormolu frieze relates to motifs used by Philippe-Claude Montigny (F. Quéré, ‘L’ébéniste Philippe-Claude Montigny’, L’Estampille – L’Objet d’Art, no. 423, April 2007, Paris, ill. p. 60). The inset Wedgwood plaque, for its part, is in the tradition of furniture mounted with porcelain plaques pioneered by the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and continued by Dominique Daguerre, who acquired a monopoly in the import and retail of Wedgwood ceramic in 1787.
Jasperware was developed by Wedgwood around 1775 and plaques of this ceramic material evoking sculpture in the antique manner were quickly being used in England to decorate both chimneypieces and furniture. This new type of ceramic had an instantaneous appeal in France as already in the 1770s the Royal porcelain factory at Sèvres started to produce imitations (Aileen Dawson, 'French Biscuit Porcelain in the Style of Wedgwood's Jasperware', Apollo, August 1982, pp. 94-102). The present plaque, depicting a Sacrifice to Hymen, is reminiscent of an oval plaque modelled in 1778 by John Flaxman for the Wedgwood manufactory after a design by Michelangelo Pergolesi. Its large scale, minor variants and slightly darker blue colour suggest it is a product of the Sèvres manufactory.
Martin-Guillaume Biennais, marchand tabletier and éventailliste, was specialised after the revolution in the production and retail of luxurious dressing and game accessories avidly sought by the new bourgeoisie. These products were occasionally delivered in precious mahogany boxes, some of which were inlaid with jasperware plaques such as the jewellery casket on stand supplied to Joséphine Bonaparte, sold at Osenat, Fontainebleau, 9 June 2013, lot 146.