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Lot Essay
Jeanne-Philiberte Ledoux was one of the leading female artists of the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras. Daughter of the celebrated architect Claude-Nicolas Ledoux (1736-1806), Jeanne-Philiberte entered the studio of Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725-1805) to train as a painter at a time when few women dared venture into a public profession. She drew inspiration for her own paintings from the works popularized by her master, principally producing head studies of beautiful young women and children. This intimate and highly sentimental portrait of a girl is characteristic of Ledoux’s ‘expressive heads’, which she exhibited to considerable success in the Paris Salons from 1793 until 1819.
Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, maître in 1755.
This refined bonheur du jour is virtually identical to the one likely purchased by the Grand-Duchess Maria Feodorovna on her trip to Paris in 1782 and was among the furnishings of Pavlosk (C. Roinet, Roger Vandercruse, Paris, 2000, p.51 fig. 16, illus). It was sold at Christie’s Geneva 8 May 1973, lot 60 and is now in a private collection. Both display swirling acanthus in amaranth against a bois citronnier ground which along with geometric inlay were leitmotifs of Lacroix’s oeuvre. It also appears on numerous small tables, including the preceding lot. These works were likely supplied to the marchand mercier Philippe Poirier as a related secretaire à abattant now in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor is described in Poirier’s day book for 6 July 1777 (Ibid, p.102). A second bonheur du jour attributed to Lacroix with a different porcelain plaque is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (58.75.52).
Roger van der Cruse, known as Lacroix, was one of the premier ébénistes who worked in the transitional style between the Louis XV and Louis XVI eras. He was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728 and was related by his sisters’ marriage to the maître-ébénistes Jean-François Oeben and to Jean-Henri Riesener. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and in his early career supplied furniture to Gilles Joubert. He was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. Lacroix is perhaps most commonly known for small gueridons which incorporate delicate trellis marquetry against a bois citronnier ground such as the previous lot in the Stafford collection.
Roger Vandercruse, known as Lacroix, maître in 1755.
This refined bonheur du jour is virtually identical to the one likely purchased by the Grand-Duchess Maria Feodorovna on her trip to Paris in 1782 and was among the furnishings of Pavlosk (C. Roinet, Roger Vandercruse, Paris, 2000, p.51 fig. 16, illus). It was sold at Christie’s Geneva 8 May 1973, lot 60 and is now in a private collection. Both display swirling acanthus in amaranth against a bois citronnier ground which along with geometric inlay were leitmotifs of Lacroix’s oeuvre. It also appears on numerous small tables, including the preceding lot. These works were likely supplied to the marchand mercier Philippe Poirier as a related secretaire à abattant now in the Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor is described in Poirier’s day book for 6 July 1777 (Ibid, p.102). A second bonheur du jour attributed to Lacroix with a different porcelain plaque is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (58.75.52).
Roger van der Cruse, known as Lacroix, was one of the premier ébénistes who worked in the transitional style between the Louis XV and Louis XVI eras. He was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728 and was related by his sisters’ marriage to the maître-ébénistes Jean-François Oeben and to Jean-Henri Riesener. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and in his early career supplied furniture to Gilles Joubert. He was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, the marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier and directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. Lacroix is perhaps most commonly known for small gueridons which incorporate delicate trellis marquetry against a bois citronnier ground such as the previous lot in the Stafford collection.