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拍品專文
The present guéridon à deux plateaux probably formed part of the collection of French furniture and objets d'art assembled by Margaret, Baroness Keith and Nairne and her husband Auguste-Charles-Joseph Comte de Flahaut. The Comte de Flahaut was the natural son of Talleyrand and the nephew of the Comte d'Angivillier, Marigny's nephew and successor as directeur-général des bâtiments du Roi. The Flahauts' daughter Emily, heiress of Meikleour, married the 4th Marquess of Lansdowne in 1843, and it is through that marriage that much of their formidable collection came into the Lansdowne family at Meikleour, Perthshire, at Bowood and Lansdowne House.
Flahaut may have inherited furniture through his own family though it seems more probable that the better part of the collection was assembled by husband and wife together expressly for their Parisian house, the Hôtel de Massa, following their marriage in 1817. Both were noted for their love of 'les beaux meubles d'époque' (F. de Bernardy, Charles de Flahaut, 1954, p. 158) and their salon as 'un des plus élégants de la capitale' (ibid.). Flahaut's colorful career included a period as Aide-de-camp to Napoleon (in which capacity he attended the battle of Waterloo), Minister in Berlin in 1831, Ambassador to Vienna 1841-48 and to London 1860-62 (where his father had served from 1830 to 1834).
The present model of guéridon porte-lumières, also known as 'table en marmotte' according to the Comte de Salverte, was conceived circa 1770 by the celebrated marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, with whom both RVLC and Martin Carlin worked extensively. Given the popularity of the model, the two ébénistes produced many such examples, or variations on the same theme, most often mounted with painted porcelain plaques. Poirier first experimented with mounting porcelain plaques on furniture while his celebrated successor Dominique Daguerre enjoyed a virtual monopoly over Sèvres porcelain plaques intended for furniture. Further fashionable versions of the same model featured the RVLC signature dot-trellis marquetry or, as illustrated here, the delicate 'marqueterie à dentelle' with thin ebony lace-like motifs against a bois citronnier ground.
Interestingly, several related guéridons à deux plateaux by Joseph Gegenbach dit Canabas are recorded, one of which circa 1780 and now at Waddesdon Manor (ill. in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, vol. II, London, 1974, p.385, fig.79). A second related example, virtually identical to the present lot and attributed to Canabas, is now in The Wrightsman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art (ill. F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. I, New York, 1966, p.209, fig. 110).
Amongst the closely related examples sold at auction recently, a guéridon à deux plateaux by RVLC with the same marqueterie à dentelle sold Christie's, Paris, 7 December 2001, lot 640 (EUR107,365 after sale), whilst another attributed to RVLC or Carlin and almost certainly supplied by Poirier was sold, 'Le Pavillon Chougny, Christie's, London, 9-10 December 2004, lot 384 (£57,360). Further related examples include a related gueridon by RVLC sold Beaussant-Lefèvre, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 29 May 1996, lot 223 (FF420,000 with premium), and another by Carlin sold from the Lagerfeld Collection, Christie's, Monaco, 28-29 April 2000, lot 319 (FF7,737,500 with premium).
Flahaut may have inherited furniture through his own family though it seems more probable that the better part of the collection was assembled by husband and wife together expressly for their Parisian house, the Hôtel de Massa, following their marriage in 1817. Both were noted for their love of 'les beaux meubles d'époque' (F. de Bernardy, Charles de Flahaut, 1954, p. 158) and their salon as 'un des plus élégants de la capitale' (ibid.). Flahaut's colorful career included a period as Aide-de-camp to Napoleon (in which capacity he attended the battle of Waterloo), Minister in Berlin in 1831, Ambassador to Vienna 1841-48 and to London 1860-62 (where his father had served from 1830 to 1834).
The present model of guéridon porte-lumières, also known as 'table en marmotte' according to the Comte de Salverte, was conceived circa 1770 by the celebrated marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier, with whom both RVLC and Martin Carlin worked extensively. Given the popularity of the model, the two ébénistes produced many such examples, or variations on the same theme, most often mounted with painted porcelain plaques. Poirier first experimented with mounting porcelain plaques on furniture while his celebrated successor Dominique Daguerre enjoyed a virtual monopoly over Sèvres porcelain plaques intended for furniture. Further fashionable versions of the same model featured the RVLC signature dot-trellis marquetry or, as illustrated here, the delicate 'marqueterie à dentelle' with thin ebony lace-like motifs against a bois citronnier ground.
Interestingly, several related guéridons à deux plateaux by Joseph Gegenbach dit Canabas are recorded, one of which circa 1780 and now at Waddesdon Manor (ill. in G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, vol. II, London, 1974, p.385, fig.79). A second related example, virtually identical to the present lot and attributed to Canabas, is now in The Wrightsman Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art (ill. F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collection, vol. I, New York, 1966, p.209, fig. 110).
Amongst the closely related examples sold at auction recently, a guéridon à deux plateaux by RVLC with the same marqueterie à dentelle sold Christie's, Paris, 7 December 2001, lot 640 (EUR107,365 after sale), whilst another attributed to RVLC or Carlin and almost certainly supplied by Poirier was sold, 'Le Pavillon Chougny, Christie's, London, 9-10 December 2004, lot 384 (£57,360). Further related examples include a related gueridon by RVLC sold Beaussant-Lefèvre, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 29 May 1996, lot 223 (FF420,000 with premium), and another by Carlin sold from the Lagerfeld Collection, Christie's, Monaco, 28-29 April 2000, lot 319 (FF7,737,500 with premium).