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Lot Essay
With its 'Etruscan' ebony veneer subtly inlaid with pewter and adorned with ormolu laurel garlands, this elegant bureau-plat is a striking example of the fashionable goût grec or early Neo-Classical style. It was executed early in the career of the ébéniste Etienne Levasseur (maître in 1766). Although undoubtedly inspired by the experimental furniture produced circa 1754-56 for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully by Joseph Baumhauer, Levasseur executed this bureau plat in a more restrained yet equally elegant and innovative manner.
The Goût Grec style was first introduced in the mid-1750's by the architect Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain. Probably working in collaboration with a marchand-mercier such as Simon-Philippe Poirier. Le Lorrain's Goût Grec style was first realized in the designs for the celebrated suite of furniture supplied for the Parisian hôtel of the amateur Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully circa 1755, which included the bureau plat and cartonnier now in the musée Condé at Chantilly, as well as the set of four meubles d'appui including that sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Works of Art from Houghton, Christie's London, 8 December 1994, lot 80.
This magnificent bureau plat is almost identical to two others; the first was sold by Rory Cameron, Esq., from the Villa Fiorentina, Cap Ferrat, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 741 ($425,000) and was subsequently with Galerie Yves Mikaeloff, Paris. Interestingly, this latter bureau plat (differing only in the end-mounts and the design of the sabots) was stamped not only by Montigny but also by Dubois, under the leather (not mentioned in the catalogue). The second, but with pieds en torse, was in the celebrated collection of Jacques Doucet, sold in Paris, 8 June 1927, lot 312. A further bureau plat, reputably of this same model and also stamped Montigny, is in the Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris, and another example stamped Montigny from a European collection sold Christie's, Paris, 15 September 2016, lot 51 (€517,500).
A further extremely closely related group of bureaux plats, but with a flowered entrelac frieze, all stamped by Montigny, are recorded: one is in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, Bedforshire (illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Revolution, Paris, 1989, p.304); another, formerly in the collection of the duchesse de Mouchy, was sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 18 June 1999, lot 120 (FFr. 3,532,500; $532,800); and a third was sold from the collection of M. Norton in these Rooms, 30 April 1986, lot 204 ($352,000).
These bureaux belong to a well-documented group of bureaux à la grecque usuallly stamped by either IDubois (for René Dubois, (1734-1809), who employed his father's stamp) or Montigny. Executed in either ebony or amaranth and tulipwood, often displaying the same distinctive ormolu mounts and of very similar proportions and design, although usually of a much smaller scale than that offered here, this group reflects the close collaboration that existed between these two ébénistes - a link further underlined by the fact that Montigny and Dubois were not only cousins, but that the former even acted as a witness at the wedding of the latter in 1772.
In view of the fact that une table de bois d'amaranthe à la grecque, 60l. was recorded in the 1764 inventory taken following the death of Jacques Dubois, while Montigny himself was not elected maître until 1766, it seems fair to conclude that it was Dubois who initially devised this model, but in the face of excessive demand, he in turn - acting in the capacity of a marchand-ébéniste - subcontracted to Montigny (and perhaps also Levasseur) to supply him with bureaux of this form. This hypothesis is further supported by the number of pieces stamped by both ébénistes, both at Waddesdon Manor and in the Wallace Collection, London.
Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798) trained with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably with A-C Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). By 1765, he was established as a privileged craftsman in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, at a shop known as au Cadran bleu, and obtained his maîtrise soon after. Among his patrons were the King's aunts, Mesdames Adelaïde and Victoire, and various amateurs such as the fermier général, Mulot de Pressigny. In 1782, he was made deputé of his guild. Levasseur specialised in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and his stamp appears on many Louis XIV pieces, including many in English country house collections. The principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture, Claude-François Julliot, was supplied by Levasseur as well as by Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Delorme and Weisweiler.
The Goût Grec style was first introduced in the mid-1750's by the architect Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain. Probably working in collaboration with a marchand-mercier such as Simon-Philippe Poirier. Le Lorrain's Goût Grec style was first realized in the designs for the celebrated suite of furniture supplied for the Parisian hôtel of the amateur Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully circa 1755, which included the bureau plat and cartonnier now in the musée Condé at Chantilly, as well as the set of four meubles d'appui including that sold by the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Works of Art from Houghton, Christie's London, 8 December 1994, lot 80.
This magnificent bureau plat is almost identical to two others; the first was sold by Rory Cameron, Esq., from the Villa Fiorentina, Cap Ferrat, Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 741 ($425,000) and was subsequently with Galerie Yves Mikaeloff, Paris. Interestingly, this latter bureau plat (differing only in the end-mounts and the design of the sabots) was stamped not only by Montigny but also by Dubois, under the leather (not mentioned in the catalogue). The second, but with pieds en torse, was in the celebrated collection of Jacques Doucet, sold in Paris, 8 June 1927, lot 312. A further bureau plat, reputably of this same model and also stamped Montigny, is in the Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris, and another example stamped Montigny from a European collection sold Christie's, Paris, 15 September 2016, lot 51 (€517,500).
A further extremely closely related group of bureaux plats, but with a flowered entrelac frieze, all stamped by Montigny, are recorded: one is in the collection of the Dukes of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, Bedforshire (illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Revolution, Paris, 1989, p.304); another, formerly in the collection of the duchesse de Mouchy, was sold at Sotheby's Monaco, 18 June 1999, lot 120 (FFr. 3,532,500; $532,800); and a third was sold from the collection of M. Norton in these Rooms, 30 April 1986, lot 204 ($352,000).
These bureaux belong to a well-documented group of bureaux à la grecque usuallly stamped by either IDubois (for René Dubois, (1734-1809), who employed his father's stamp) or Montigny. Executed in either ebony or amaranth and tulipwood, often displaying the same distinctive ormolu mounts and of very similar proportions and design, although usually of a much smaller scale than that offered here, this group reflects the close collaboration that existed between these two ébénistes - a link further underlined by the fact that Montigny and Dubois were not only cousins, but that the former even acted as a witness at the wedding of the latter in 1772.
In view of the fact that une table de bois d'amaranthe à la grecque, 60l. was recorded in the 1764 inventory taken following the death of Jacques Dubois, while Montigny himself was not elected maître until 1766, it seems fair to conclude that it was Dubois who initially devised this model, but in the face of excessive demand, he in turn - acting in the capacity of a marchand-ébéniste - subcontracted to Montigny (and perhaps also Levasseur) to supply him with bureaux of this form. This hypothesis is further supported by the number of pieces stamped by both ébénistes, both at Waddesdon Manor and in the Wallace Collection, London.
Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798) trained with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably with A-C Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). By 1765, he was established as a privileged craftsman in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, at a shop known as au Cadran bleu, and obtained his maîtrise soon after. Among his patrons were the King's aunts, Mesdames Adelaïde and Victoire, and various amateurs such as the fermier général, Mulot de Pressigny. In 1782, he was made deputé of his guild. Levasseur specialised in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and his stamp appears on many Louis XIV pieces, including many in English country house collections. The principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture, Claude-François Julliot, was supplied by Levasseur as well as by Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Delorme and Weisweiler.