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Lot Essay
Bernard II Van Risenburgh, maître before 1730.
This spectacular and monumentally scaled bureau plat is a brilliant example of the talent of one of the most important cabinetmakers of Louis XV's reign, Bernard II van Risenburgh, who elevated the Rococo style to the height of refinement. It is one of the largest recorded examples in his oeuvre and one of a select few bureaux plats by him to incorporate lacquer. His many collaborations with the most important marchands merciers of his time, such as Thomas-Joachim Hébert, Lazare Duvaux and Simon-Philippe Poirier, allowed him to design furniture of unprecedented opulence for a wealthy clientele. The marchands-merciers also supplied him with precious materials such as Japanese lacquer and Sèvres porcelain, to incorporate into his finest creations, while their finding allowed him to create exceptionally fine ormolu mounts, characterized by the fineness of their chasing. Although he responded to specific commissions, he nonetheless developed a highly personal and recognizable style.
This desk, marked by its sinuous lines, is one of a series of similar works that he began producing in the 1730s. A model similar to the present lot appears in a painting by Louis Tocqué (1698-1772) portraying Louis, the young Dauphin, commissioned in 1739 and now in the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. 8174), featuring closely related shell-cast chutes. Another desk of this type supplied to the Wittelsbach court, is in the Residenz, Munich, (B. Langer, et. al., Die Möbel der Residenz München: Die französischen Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts, Munich and New York, 1995, p. 103). Although overall very similar, the ormolu chutes on the desk in Munich are somewhat simpler than those on this bureau. The corner mounts here, featuring highly sculptural shell motifs, are also closely related to the ormolu chutes found on lacquer commodes by BVRB also in the former Wittelsbach collections at the Residenz and one at Schloss Nymphenburg, (ibid., pp. 94, 98 and 88, respectively).
Bureaux plats are uncommon in BVRB’s oeuvre, comprising only about one tenth of his output. Most known examples were executed in plain wood veneers and those incorporating lacquer panels are very rare. A comparable bureau by BVRB featuring Chinese lacquer panels sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 26 June 1951, lot 193, then at Ader, Monaco, 11 November 1984, lot 79, and finally by Binoche, Paris, 18 October 1995 when it was sold from the estate of Marcel Bissey (FF 1,850,000). BVRB's other desks of this model, but without lacquer panels, include one formerly in the Kann, de Portago and Guest collections and sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 46; an example in the collection of Madame André Saint, sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 20-21 May 1935, lot 185 (illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'art et la manière des Maîtres ébénistes Français au XVIIIème siècle, I, Paris, 1976, p.85, fig. C.); and another from the former collection of the duc de Richelieu, Maréchal de Belle-Isle (1696-1788), now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (acc. no. 2019.283.5). Finally, there is a series of similar desks with slightly different bronzes, such as the one sold at Sotheby's, Paris, 5 May 2015, lot 149 with floral marquetry, and another sold at Christie's, Paris, 30 November 2016, lot 121 with a chevron frieze. Most recently, a desk of this model veneered entirely in amaranth was sold from the Rothschild Collection at Christie’s, New York, 11 October 2023, lot 35 ($1,260,000). Among all of the abovementioned bureaux, only the desk sold in 1979 is of the same dimensions as the present lot and all other examples are smaller—in most cases to a significantly degree.
Desks incorporating lacquer panels are among the rarest in BVRB’s oeuvre. Certainly not a novelty by the mid-eighteenth century, one of the earliest known examples of a bureau plat featuring a combination of exotic veneer and Asian lacquer (un bureau de bois de violette plaqué à pieds de biche avec des compartiments de bois de la Chine ) was delivered to the comte d'Evreux before July 1731. The diary of the cabinet-maker Pierre IV Migeon reveals that between 1730 and 1736, he delivered several pieces combining lacquer and precious woods to a prestigious clientele. Among them was the comte de Rottembourg, French ambassador to Spain, who in 1734 commissioned un bureau à écrire et un serre-papiers assortissant de bois de violet plaqué de la Chine, garni d'ornements de bronze doré d'or moulu from Migeon at the large sum of 3,600 livres.
Furniture incorporating lacquer panels is among the most sumptuous in BVRB’s oeuvre. Interestingly, by the end of his career, furniture destined for varnishing or lacquering accounted for twenty percent of BVRB’s stock, suggesting the popularity of this type of furnishing among his clientele. BVRB was a master in adapting Asian lacquer for his furniture and a number of such pieces are known. Three ebonized commodes incorporating French japanned panels in the Chinese taste by BVRB are now preserved in the Residenz, Munich (Langer, op. cit., pp. 94-102). Although they are mounted differently as the present lot, their chutes share many stylistic similarities with those seen on this desk. Another comparable piece by BVRB is a lacquer-inset bureau plat with different ormolu mounts, formerly in the collection of Gustave de Rothschild, sold Christie's, London, 10 June 1993, lot 34. In the 1764 inventory of the workshop's stock, drawn up when BVRB II handed over his business to his eldest son, Bernard III, a desk in progress is recorded with the same dimensions as this lot, and another ready to receive lacquer panels.
This spectacular and monumentally scaled bureau plat is a brilliant example of the talent of one of the most important cabinetmakers of Louis XV's reign, Bernard II van Risenburgh, who elevated the Rococo style to the height of refinement. It is one of the largest recorded examples in his oeuvre and one of a select few bureaux plats by him to incorporate lacquer. His many collaborations with the most important marchands merciers of his time, such as Thomas-Joachim Hébert, Lazare Duvaux and Simon-Philippe Poirier, allowed him to design furniture of unprecedented opulence for a wealthy clientele. The marchands-merciers also supplied him with precious materials such as Japanese lacquer and Sèvres porcelain, to incorporate into his finest creations, while their finding allowed him to create exceptionally fine ormolu mounts, characterized by the fineness of their chasing. Although he responded to specific commissions, he nonetheless developed a highly personal and recognizable style.
This desk, marked by its sinuous lines, is one of a series of similar works that he began producing in the 1730s. A model similar to the present lot appears in a painting by Louis Tocqué (1698-1772) portraying Louis, the young Dauphin, commissioned in 1739 and now in the Musée du Louvre (inv. no. 8174), featuring closely related shell-cast chutes. Another desk of this type supplied to the Wittelsbach court, is in the Residenz, Munich, (B. Langer, et. al., Die Möbel der Residenz München: Die französischen Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts, Munich and New York, 1995, p. 103). Although overall very similar, the ormolu chutes on the desk in Munich are somewhat simpler than those on this bureau. The corner mounts here, featuring highly sculptural shell motifs, are also closely related to the ormolu chutes found on lacquer commodes by BVRB also in the former Wittelsbach collections at the Residenz and one at Schloss Nymphenburg, (ibid., pp. 94, 98 and 88, respectively).
Bureaux plats are uncommon in BVRB’s oeuvre, comprising only about one tenth of his output. Most known examples were executed in plain wood veneers and those incorporating lacquer panels are very rare. A comparable bureau by BVRB featuring Chinese lacquer panels sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 26 June 1951, lot 193, then at Ader, Monaco, 11 November 1984, lot 79, and finally by Binoche, Paris, 18 October 1995 when it was sold from the estate of Marcel Bissey (FF 1,850,000). BVRB's other desks of this model, but without lacquer panels, include one formerly in the Kann, de Portago and Guest collections and sold Sotheby’s, Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 46; an example in the collection of Madame André Saint, sold Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 20-21 May 1935, lot 185 (illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'art et la manière des Maîtres ébénistes Français au XVIIIème siècle, I, Paris, 1976, p.85, fig. C.); and another from the former collection of the duc de Richelieu, Maréchal de Belle-Isle (1696-1788), now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (acc. no. 2019.283.5). Finally, there is a series of similar desks with slightly different bronzes, such as the one sold at Sotheby's, Paris, 5 May 2015, lot 149 with floral marquetry, and another sold at Christie's, Paris, 30 November 2016, lot 121 with a chevron frieze. Most recently, a desk of this model veneered entirely in amaranth was sold from the Rothschild Collection at Christie’s, New York, 11 October 2023, lot 35 ($1,260,000). Among all of the abovementioned bureaux, only the desk sold in 1979 is of the same dimensions as the present lot and all other examples are smaller—in most cases to a significantly degree.
Desks incorporating lacquer panels are among the rarest in BVRB’s oeuvre. Certainly not a novelty by the mid-eighteenth century, one of the earliest known examples of a bureau plat featuring a combination of exotic veneer and Asian lacquer (un bureau de bois de violette plaqué à pieds de biche avec des compartiments de bois de la Chine ) was delivered to the comte d'Evreux before July 1731. The diary of the cabinet-maker Pierre IV Migeon reveals that between 1730 and 1736, he delivered several pieces combining lacquer and precious woods to a prestigious clientele. Among them was the comte de Rottembourg, French ambassador to Spain, who in 1734 commissioned un bureau à écrire et un serre-papiers assortissant de bois de violet plaqué de la Chine, garni d'ornements de bronze doré d'or moulu from Migeon at the large sum of 3,600 livres.
Furniture incorporating lacquer panels is among the most sumptuous in BVRB’s oeuvre. Interestingly, by the end of his career, furniture destined for varnishing or lacquering accounted for twenty percent of BVRB’s stock, suggesting the popularity of this type of furnishing among his clientele. BVRB was a master in adapting Asian lacquer for his furniture and a number of such pieces are known. Three ebonized commodes incorporating French japanned panels in the Chinese taste by BVRB are now preserved in the Residenz, Munich (Langer, op. cit., pp. 94-102). Although they are mounted differently as the present lot, their chutes share many stylistic similarities with those seen on this desk. Another comparable piece by BVRB is a lacquer-inset bureau plat with different ormolu mounts, formerly in the collection of Gustave de Rothschild, sold Christie's, London, 10 June 1993, lot 34. In the 1764 inventory of the workshop's stock, drawn up when BVRB II handed over his business to his eldest son, Bernard III, a desk in progress is recorded with the same dimensions as this lot, and another ready to receive lacquer panels.