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Lot Essay
The design of this table was clearly influenced by the oeuvre of one of the finest cabinetmakers of the eighteenth century, Martin Carlin. Porcelain-inlaid tables, produced by the marchand-merciers, were considered among the most luxurious and fashionable furniture of the Louis XVI period. Small tables or tables en chiffonnière mounted with fashionable and expensive Sèvres porcelain plaques were first developed in the rocaille style by marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier circa 1760 as a collaboration with ébénistes such as BVRB and Lacroix. Carlin perfected this type of furniture and introduced circular tables with porcelain tops and friezes in 1771. Examples of such tables include one in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild at Halton and another in the musée du Louvre (OA 10 467), illustrated in D. Alcouffe et al., Le Mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Dijon, 1993, Vol. I, p. 228, cat. 69. For one of Carlin’s most-recently-sold porcelain-inlaid tables comparable to this lot see Rothschild Masterpieces: Le Goût Rothschild; Christie’s, New York, 13 October 2023, lot 347. A closely related 19th century porcelain-mounted gueridon was sold Christie's, London, 2 December 1998, lot 88.
THELMA CHRYSLER FOY
Thelma Chrysler Foy (1902-1957), elder daughter of Walter Chrysler, was a celebrated society hostess, dubbed by the New York Times as 'the woman of the greatest taste ... in New York'. Famed for her impeccable eye for both art and fashion, she appeared several times on the annual list of the ten best dressed women in the country. Thelma and her husband Byron Foy owned an extensive and well-known collection of French Impressionist art which adorned their homes, furnished lavishly with eighteenth-century French furniture, as was de rigueur at the time. Their collection included works by the best in both fine and decorative arts, such as Carlin, Weisweiler, Oeben, Renoir, Degas, Vuillard, Houdon, Falconet, Clodion and Giovanni da Bologna, to name a few. Thelma’s influence on the next generation of socialites was immense, and many followed her stylistic choices when creating their homes. In fact, Jayne Wrightsman, undoubtedly one of the greatest collectors of eighteenth-century French decorative arts in America, was much inspired by the Foys' collecting. Thelma and Byron shared spectacular residences, including an apartment at 740 Park Avenue, a town house on 91st street originally built by the Vanderbilts, and a country estate in Locust Valley. Parke Bernet offered her extensive collection from both her Park Avenue and Locust Valley residences in a landmark series of auctions 13-23 May 1959. Pieces from her estate are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including Picasso’s L'Acteur, a pair of fauteuils by Chevigny, and a Louis XIV Boulle marquetry bureau plat. A portion of her wardrobe is preserved at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among her sumptuous jewelry was a stunning 54.03 carat pear-shaped diamond necklace that sold Christie’s, New York, 8 June 2021, lot 135.
THELMA CHRYSLER FOY
Thelma Chrysler Foy (1902-1957), elder daughter of Walter Chrysler, was a celebrated society hostess, dubbed by the New York Times as 'the woman of the greatest taste ... in New York'. Famed for her impeccable eye for both art and fashion, she appeared several times on the annual list of the ten best dressed women in the country. Thelma and her husband Byron Foy owned an extensive and well-known collection of French Impressionist art which adorned their homes, furnished lavishly with eighteenth-century French furniture, as was de rigueur at the time. Their collection included works by the best in both fine and decorative arts, such as Carlin, Weisweiler, Oeben, Renoir, Degas, Vuillard, Houdon, Falconet, Clodion and Giovanni da Bologna, to name a few. Thelma’s influence on the next generation of socialites was immense, and many followed her stylistic choices when creating their homes. In fact, Jayne Wrightsman, undoubtedly one of the greatest collectors of eighteenth-century French decorative arts in America, was much inspired by the Foys' collecting. Thelma and Byron shared spectacular residences, including an apartment at 740 Park Avenue, a town house on 91st street originally built by the Vanderbilts, and a country estate in Locust Valley. Parke Bernet offered her extensive collection from both her Park Avenue and Locust Valley residences in a landmark series of auctions 13-23 May 1959. Pieces from her estate are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, including Picasso’s L'Acteur, a pair of fauteuils by Chevigny, and a Louis XIV Boulle marquetry bureau plat. A portion of her wardrobe is preserved at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Among her sumptuous jewelry was a stunning 54.03 carat pear-shaped diamond necklace that sold Christie’s, New York, 8 June 2021, lot 135.