BY FRANCOIS GARNIER, MID-18TH CENTURY

François Garnier, maître in 1742.

François Garnier (d. 1760), Parisian ‘maître et marchand ébéniste’ and father of the celebrated Pierre Garnier, was one of the leading Parisian ébénistes of the Louis XV period, creating furniture of exemplary craftsmanship from his substantial workshop on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine.

The present occasional table typifies the fashion for furniture mounted with exotic lacquer or 'vernis' imitating lacquer which was controlled by the marchands-merciers. Garnier’s collaboration with the marchands is well-documented, supplying furniture to Michel Héceguerre, Anjubaut and Nicolas Héricourt among others (C. Huchet de Quénetain, ‘The origin of a Parisian dynasty of craftsmen and artists: François Garnier (d. 1760) maître menuisier- ébéniste', Furniture History Society, vol. XLVIII, 2012, pp. 117-118). A related commode by François Garnier was sold by Christie's in London first in 1968, again in 1971 and lastly on 6 July 2006, lot 31.