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Lot Essay
Fidelys Schey, maître in 1777.
Schey, born in the Duchy of Baden, was one of the many immigrant craftsmen who was established in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine and was patronised by the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne at the château de Fontainebleau.
A closely related secrétaire by Schey was sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 7 February 1982, lot 338.
THE MENTMORE SALE
This unusual secrétaire was acquired at the sale of the collection of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire. One of the most celebrated collection sales of the 20th century, Mentmore epitomized the opulence of the goût Rothschild, with royal French ébénisterie accompanied by a spectacular array of tapestries, palatial Italian, Russian and German pieces, paintings and works of art. The collection was formed by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (d. 1874), who had commissioned the architect Joseph Paxton to create his astonishing recreation of an Elizabethen prodigy house at Mentmore. It was later added to significantly by his son-in-law the fifth Earl of Rosebery, who in 1878 married Baron Mayer's only daughter Hannah, who had become the richest heiress in England following her father's death.
Schey, born in the Duchy of Baden, was one of the many immigrant craftsmen who was established in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine and was patronised by the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne at the château de Fontainebleau.
A closely related secrétaire by Schey was sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 7 February 1982, lot 338.
THE MENTMORE SALE
This unusual secrétaire was acquired at the sale of the collection of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore, Buckinghamshire. One of the most celebrated collection sales of the 20th century, Mentmore epitomized the opulence of the goût Rothschild, with royal French ébénisterie accompanied by a spectacular array of tapestries, palatial Italian, Russian and German pieces, paintings and works of art. The collection was formed by Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild (d. 1874), who had commissioned the architect Joseph Paxton to create his astonishing recreation of an Elizabethen prodigy house at Mentmore. It was later added to significantly by his son-in-law the fifth Earl of Rosebery, who in 1878 married Baron Mayer's only daughter Hannah, who had become the richest heiress in England following her father's death.