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Lot Essay
Leonard Boudin, maître in 1761 was particularly renowned for the quality of his floral marquetry, a skill he learned while apprenticed to the ébéniste, Pierre II Migeon (d. 1758). In 1772, he began retailing furniture from premises on the rue Fromenteau, five years later he moved to the cloister of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois. Characteristic of his work are panels of floral marquetry framed by amaranth, such as on the present piece. Large floral garlands are also associated with Boudin's marquetry. As a marchand-ébéniste, his stamp is often found alongside that of RVLC, Evald, Denizot and Gilbert, indicating that Boudin retailed these pieces on behalf of these ébénistes. Boudin worked not only with marquetry veneers, but also with Chinese lacquer and japanned panels imitating Chinese lacquer. As a result of this activity, his stamp is found on many pieces of furniture and, at the end of his career in 1791, he maintained that many of those pieces were retailed by him.
Among the craftsmen to whom Boudin granted commissions was Charles Topino, and it is possible that the lot offered here is the fruit of a collaboration between Boudin and Topino. The marquetry of tasseled drapery swag above a fruit basket on the fall front and the large flowering urn on the lower doors are typical of Topino’s work and can be found on several secrétaires à abattant by him. Such cabinets include one sold Sotheby's, London, 14 June 2000, lot 58 (£46,500) and another illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1998, p. 846. Although not exclusive to Topino, the running-dog-cast ormolu frieze also appears on a secrétaire from the collection of the princess de Broglie, see S. B. Sainte Marie, Charles Topino, Paris, 2005, p. 111. For a secrétaire with comparable inlay to the fall front, see J. Nicolay, L’Art et la Manière des Maitres Ebénistes Français au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1976, fig. W. A related work also believes to be a product of Boudin’s collaboration with Topino was sold Christie’s, London, 10 July, 2008, lot 73 (£37,250). The exaggerated Greek key motif running along its corners appears to be unique in Boudin’s oeuvre and makes the lot offered particularly chic and desirable for today’s connoisseur. An almost identical secrétaire à abattant with less elaborate marquetry by Boudin from the collection of the Vicomtesse Vigier was sold at Palais Galliera, 2-3 June, 1970, lot 137.
Among the craftsmen to whom Boudin granted commissions was Charles Topino, and it is possible that the lot offered here is the fruit of a collaboration between Boudin and Topino. The marquetry of tasseled drapery swag above a fruit basket on the fall front and the large flowering urn on the lower doors are typical of Topino’s work and can be found on several secrétaires à abattant by him. Such cabinets include one sold Sotheby's, London, 14 June 2000, lot 58 (£46,500) and another illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1998, p. 846. Although not exclusive to Topino, the running-dog-cast ormolu frieze also appears on a secrétaire from the collection of the princess de Broglie, see S. B. Sainte Marie, Charles Topino, Paris, 2005, p. 111. For a secrétaire with comparable inlay to the fall front, see J. Nicolay, L’Art et la Manière des Maitres Ebénistes Français au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1976, fig. W. A related work also believes to be a product of Boudin’s collaboration with Topino was sold Christie’s, London, 10 July, 2008, lot 73 (£37,250). The exaggerated Greek key motif running along its corners appears to be unique in Boudin’s oeuvre and makes the lot offered particularly chic and desirable for today’s connoisseur. An almost identical secrétaire à abattant with less elaborate marquetry by Boudin from the collection of the Vicomtesse Vigier was sold at Palais Galliera, 2-3 June, 1970, lot 137.
