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Lot Essay
Adam Weisweiler, maître in 1778.
This beautiful console combines breathtaking simplicity with daring geometric complexity, the intersection of its eight legs with the dizzying interlacing lines of its stretcher making it appear to float in mid-air. The subtle two-tone effect created by the mahogany ground and the shimmering gold of the ormolu mounts lend it a restrained sophistication typical of Weisweiler’s oeuvre, while the distinctive interlaced stretcher is only found on his finest and most inventive works. Examples of these include a small demilune ebony console table sold from the collection of Sydell Miller, Christie’s, New York, 10 June 2021, lot 75 ($612,500); a table delivered for Marie-Antoinette and a secrétaire used in the cabinet intérieur du Roi at Versailles, see P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, pp. 42 and 63, respectively; as well as the ebony side table comprising lot 114 in this sale. Although comparable console tables and consoles desserte constitute a sizeable portion of Weisweiler’s output, pieces featuring intricate stretchers spanning large sets of legs are rare. Only one almost identically-mounted ebony console with this type of stretcher and eight legs by Weisweiler is currently known, see Drouot, Paris, 28 June 1996, lot 244. The Drouot table is shorter and thus more conventional in its proportions. The large size, particularly the length, of this lot suggests that it was a bespoke commission intended for the needs of a specific space, probably facilitated by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. An unstamped ormolu-mounted mahogany console desserte of similar proportions and design, almost certainly supplied by Daguerre, was sold from the collection of Jayne Wrightsman at Christie's, New York, 14 October 2020, lot 130 ($62,500). The tripartite stretcher on these two tables is an innovative combination of two different types of stretchers designed by Weisweiler: the central section is found on smaller consoles and tables, whereas the sections spanning the side-legs appear on occasional tables, such as the pair sold Christie’s, New York, 10 June 2021, lot 48 ($1,050,000). These small tables de café were often conceived in pairs and are unique to Weisweiler's oeuvre. As evidenced by this lot, Weisweiler’s oeuvre is also characterized by the superb quality of its craftsmanship, not only in the luxurious the materials used (his pieces unfailingly display the choicest cuts of timber), but also in extreme precision of his cabinet-work and his ineffable sense of perfect proportion and balance.
DOMININIQUE DAGUERRE AND WEISWEILER
Weisweiler’s work is indelibly linked to Dominique Daguerre, the most innovative and fashionable marchand-mercier and tastemaker of the era. Daguerre's dazzling clientele included not only all the titled nobility of Paris and several members of the Royal Family including Marie-Antoinette, but also the royal courts of Vienna, St. Petersburg, Naples and England, where the Prince of Wales became perhaps his single most-important client. The heir to Simon-Philippe Poirier's (d. 1785) atelier, Daguerre specialized in supplying objets de luxe. His shop was located in the rue Saint-Honoré, from which he supplied his discerning clientele with a vast array of luxurious goods. His trade label reveals the breadth of his offerings, specifying stock in 'Tient Magasin de Porcelaines, Bronzes, Ebénisterie, Glaces, Curiosités, & autres Marchandises'. In 1786, Daguerre signed an agreement with Josiah Wedgwood for the exclusive rights to sell Wedgwood's Jasperware in France, and in the following year he was commissioned to supply the furnishings for George, Prince of Wales at Carlton House, under the direction of Henry Holland. Opening a shop in Piccadilly, Daguerre supplied such figures as the Duke of York, Lady Holderness, Earl Spencer and the 5th Duke of Bedford. Daguerre ultimately moved his business to London following the French Revolution, and sold a significant part of his stock at Christie’s in 1791.
This beautiful console combines breathtaking simplicity with daring geometric complexity, the intersection of its eight legs with the dizzying interlacing lines of its stretcher making it appear to float in mid-air. The subtle two-tone effect created by the mahogany ground and the shimmering gold of the ormolu mounts lend it a restrained sophistication typical of Weisweiler’s oeuvre, while the distinctive interlaced stretcher is only found on his finest and most inventive works. Examples of these include a small demilune ebony console table sold from the collection of Sydell Miller, Christie’s, New York, 10 June 2021, lot 75 ($612,500); a table delivered for Marie-Antoinette and a secrétaire used in the cabinet intérieur du Roi at Versailles, see P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, pp. 42 and 63, respectively; as well as the ebony side table comprising lot 114 in this sale. Although comparable console tables and consoles desserte constitute a sizeable portion of Weisweiler’s output, pieces featuring intricate stretchers spanning large sets of legs are rare. Only one almost identically-mounted ebony console with this type of stretcher and eight legs by Weisweiler is currently known, see Drouot, Paris, 28 June 1996, lot 244. The Drouot table is shorter and thus more conventional in its proportions. The large size, particularly the length, of this lot suggests that it was a bespoke commission intended for the needs of a specific space, probably facilitated by the marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. An unstamped ormolu-mounted mahogany console desserte of similar proportions and design, almost certainly supplied by Daguerre, was sold from the collection of Jayne Wrightsman at Christie's, New York, 14 October 2020, lot 130 ($62,500). The tripartite stretcher on these two tables is an innovative combination of two different types of stretchers designed by Weisweiler: the central section is found on smaller consoles and tables, whereas the sections spanning the side-legs appear on occasional tables, such as the pair sold Christie’s, New York, 10 June 2021, lot 48 ($1,050,000). These small tables de café were often conceived in pairs and are unique to Weisweiler's oeuvre. As evidenced by this lot, Weisweiler’s oeuvre is also characterized by the superb quality of its craftsmanship, not only in the luxurious the materials used (his pieces unfailingly display the choicest cuts of timber), but also in extreme precision of his cabinet-work and his ineffable sense of perfect proportion and balance.
DOMININIQUE DAGUERRE AND WEISWEILER
Weisweiler’s work is indelibly linked to Dominique Daguerre, the most innovative and fashionable marchand-mercier and tastemaker of the era. Daguerre's dazzling clientele included not only all the titled nobility of Paris and several members of the Royal Family including Marie-Antoinette, but also the royal courts of Vienna, St. Petersburg, Naples and England, where the Prince of Wales became perhaps his single most-important client. The heir to Simon-Philippe Poirier's (d. 1785) atelier, Daguerre specialized in supplying objets de luxe. His shop was located in the rue Saint-Honoré, from which he supplied his discerning clientele with a vast array of luxurious goods. His trade label reveals the breadth of his offerings, specifying stock in 'Tient Magasin de Porcelaines, Bronzes, Ebénisterie, Glaces, Curiosités, & autres Marchandises'. In 1786, Daguerre signed an agreement with Josiah Wedgwood for the exclusive rights to sell Wedgwood's Jasperware in France, and in the following year he was commissioned to supply the furnishings for George, Prince of Wales at Carlton House, under the direction of Henry Holland. Opening a shop in Piccadilly, Daguerre supplied such figures as the Duke of York, Lady Holderness, Earl Spencer and the 5th Duke of Bedford. Daguerre ultimately moved his business to London following the French Revolution, and sold a significant part of his stock at Christie’s in 1791.