A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH, TULIPWOOD AND CUBE PARQUETRY TABLE EN CHIFFONNIERE
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH, TULIPWOOD AND CUBE PARQUETRY TABLE EN CHIFFONNIERE

CIRCA 1775, STAMPED FOUR TIMES MONTIGNY AND TWICE JME

Details
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH, TULIPWOOD AND CUBE PARQUETRY TABLE EN CHIFFONNIERE
Circa 1775, stamped four times MONTIGNY and twice JME
The rectangular top with outset corners inlaid with cube parquetry within an interlaced key-pattern, above three drawers similarly inlaid sans traverse with paterae enriched cut-corners, fitted with a purple velvet writing-slide and inkwells flanked by bearded stayr-mask and acanthus angles, the sides and reverse similarly inlaid, on square tapering channelled legs headed with laurel-leaf swags and joined by a similarly inlaid undertier, on pounced block sabots, the underside of the undertier with printed label F.I.C., Marchioness Dowager of Bath, the top possibly originally sliding
29in. (74.5cm.) high, 16in. (42.5cm.) wide, 12in. (32cm.) deep
Montigny, Philippe-Claude
Provenance
Probably acquired by Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837), for Longleat House, Wiltshire.
Thence by descent to the Dowager Marchioness of Bath, sold Christie's London, 26 November 1970, lot 22.
Literature
Weltkunst, September 1971, back cover (advertised by Jacques Perrin, Paris).

Lot Essay

Philippe-Claude Montigny, matre in 1770.

This table crire was almost certainly acquired for Longleat by Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765-1837). Succeeding to the title in 1796, he engaged the Prince Regent's architect Sir Jeffrey Wyattville to remodel many of the interiors between 1806-1818 and again, between 1829-31. A celebrated antiquarian, the 2nd Marquess was a particular admirer of 'Buhl', and indeed not only bought superlative examples by Andr-Charles Boulle himself (such as the Louis XIV floral marquetry bureau still at Longleat), but also commissioned new pieces that incorporating ealier panels of marquetry, such as the 'two New Cabinetts with Buhl ends...., Old Drawer fronts' which Thomas Parker of Air Street supplied in 1812 (C. Cator, 'Furniture at Longleat', Christie's International Magazine, December 1996, pp.66-7). It is, therefore, only natural that his taste should be drawn to the oeuvre of Philippe-Claude Montigny, who is perhaps best known for his antiquarian creations inspired by Boulle, and indeed often incorporated panels of the latter's 17th century marquetry, such as the secrtaire that featured in the sale of the collection of M. de Billy in 1784, which is now conserved in the J. Paul Getty Museum (A. Pradre, Les Ebnistes Franais de Louis XIV la Rvolution, Paris, 1989, pp.306-7).

A pair of tables en chiffonire of identical form, formerly in the collection of the Rt. Hon. G.F. Cavendish-Bentinck, unstamped but attributed to Montigny, was sold anonymously at Christie's Monaco, 5 December 1992, lot 18.

It is interesting to note that the distinctive satyr-mask angle-mounts were not a model used exclusively by Montigny, as they feature on a Chinese lacquer-mounted secrtaire abattant by Ren Dubois (matre in 1755) illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Franais du XVIIIe Sicle, Paris, 1989, p.279, fig. C. It is, therefore, particularly pertinent that these two bnistes are known to have collaborated, particularly on the series of bureau plats la Grec which are often stamped by both Dubois and Montigny, (such as the ebony bureau plat sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 17 June 1988, lot 741). In all likelihood these were sold by Dubois, acting as a marchand from his shop in the rue Charenton and actually executed by Montigny.

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