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Lot Essay
Jean-François Leleu, maître in 1764.
The number of recorded bureaux à cylindre by Leleu is small. In 1772 Leleu delivered to the Prince de Condé, his foremost patron in the following years, a small example in the neo-classical style. Another, more elaborately decorated, bureau was delivered to the prince in 1779 (sold Sotheby’s, Monte Carlo, 16 June 1990, lot 943) of which a second version was formerly in the Collection of Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, sold Christie's London, 8 July 1999, lot 206 (£441,500).
A further very closely-related example is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. no. BK-14854). With the exception of the boxwood-inlaid trellis pattern parquetry and the detailed corner mounts, the model is identical. Another example, with tambour cylinder and circular feet, was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's London, 20 June 1985, lot 88 (£42,000).
The bureau’s inventive locking mechanism, operating with a single key, bears witness to Leleu’s training in Jean-François Oeben’s (1721-1763) workshop. After the early death of his master, Leleu hoped to be entrusted with the running of the workshop, but was superseded by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), another of Oeben's assistants. Riesener married Oeben's widow and went on to become the court ébéniste of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Leleu left the workshop, became maître-ébéniste in 1764 and set up on his own. He attracted a grand and fastidious clientele, notably the duc d'Uzès, baron d'Ivry, Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully and the prince de Condé to whom he delivered several sumptuous and celebrated pieces of furniture for the palais de Bourbon and the château at Chantilly in 1772 and 1773 (see S. Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 79-81, figs. 127-130; A. Pradère, Les ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, pp. 338-340, figs. 396 and 397).
The number of recorded bureaux à cylindre by Leleu is small. In 1772 Leleu delivered to the Prince de Condé, his foremost patron in the following years, a small example in the neo-classical style. Another, more elaborately decorated, bureau was delivered to the prince in 1779 (sold Sotheby’s, Monte Carlo, 16 June 1990, lot 943) of which a second version was formerly in the Collection of Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, sold Christie's London, 8 July 1999, lot 206 (£441,500).
A further very closely-related example is in the collection of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (inv. no. BK-14854). With the exception of the boxwood-inlaid trellis pattern parquetry and the detailed corner mounts, the model is identical. Another example, with tambour cylinder and circular feet, was sold from the Wildenstein Collection, Christie's London, 20 June 1985, lot 88 (£42,000).
The bureau’s inventive locking mechanism, operating with a single key, bears witness to Leleu’s training in Jean-François Oeben’s (1721-1763) workshop. After the early death of his master, Leleu hoped to be entrusted with the running of the workshop, but was superseded by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), another of Oeben's assistants. Riesener married Oeben's widow and went on to become the court ébéniste of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. Leleu left the workshop, became maître-ébéniste in 1764 and set up on his own. He attracted a grand and fastidious clientele, notably the duc d'Uzès, baron d'Ivry, Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully and the prince de Condé to whom he delivered several sumptuous and celebrated pieces of furniture for the palais de Bourbon and the château at Chantilly in 1772 and 1773 (see S. Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 79-81, figs. 127-130; A. Pradère, Les ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, pp. 338-340, figs. 396 and 397).