Lot 304
304
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT
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Prospective purchasers are advised that several co… Read more PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE LEBANESE COLLECTION (LOTS 300-307)
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT

BY MATHIEU BEFORT (DIT BEFORT JEUNE), PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, AFTER THE MODEL BY ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE

Details
A FRENCH ORMOLU-MOUNTED BRASS-INLAID, TORTOISESHELL 'BOULLE' MARQUETRY AND EBONY BUREAU PLAT
BY MATHIEU BEFORT (DIT BEFORT JEUNE), PARIS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY, AFTER THE MODEL BY ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE
The rectangular ormolu-moulded top set with a red gilt-tooled leather writing surface, within a premier-partie scrolled acanthus border, each corner with a rosette, above a central frieze drawer with a shield escutcheon, flanked to each side by an acanthus chute and a smaller drawer, the reverse with similar apparent drawers, the sides centred by a satyr mask, supported on four cabriole legs headed by female espagnolettes, on paw feet, the carcas stamped 'BEFORT JEUNE'
31 ½ in. (80 cm.) high; 62 ¾ in. (159.5 cm.) wide; 36 in. (91.5 cm.) deep
Special notice
Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country. These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

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Lot Essay


The present bureau is based on the celebrated model executed by Charles-André Boulle (1642-1732) circa 1715 for the Duc de Bourbon, at Chantilly. The historically significant bureau-plat was seized during the French Revolution and kept at the Garde-Meuble until 1834 when it sent to Versailles and placed in the Cabinet du Conseil by Louis-Philippe until it was eventually returned to Chantilly in 2012 and housed in the musée Condé (inv. VMB 960). An elevation drawing for a nearly identical bureau-plat by Boulle and drafted by Gilles-Marie Oppenord shows a slight variation to the central frieze drawer from the example executed for the Duc de Bourbon, which is less wide and supplemants the mask escutcheon with a less elaborate shield-form escutcheon, and which is overall closer in design to the present lot. This design is now in the collection of the Cooper-Hewitt, New York (inv. 1921-22-196).
Mathieu Befort, dit Befort Jeune, was the son of Jean-Baptiste Befort (d. 1840), who established his Paris workshops in 1817 in the faubourg Saint-Honoré. He was a brother of Bernard Befort, ébéniste-marqueteur and 'antiquaire' and like him specialised in 'meubles de Boulle,' as seen with the present lot. The firm received a medal at the 1844 Exposition des Produits de l'Industrie française, and was recorded at Neuves-Saint-Gilles from 1844 until 1880.

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