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Lot Essay
Highly unusual in terms of its size and decorative scheme, this small bureau plat corresponds direcly with that described in the 1792 sale catalogue of the collection of the banker, Haranc de Presle:
The table was clearly felt to be by André-Charles Boulle (d. 1732) at the time of the sale. The expert preparing the catalogue, the celebrated dealer, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun (d. 1813), attributed sixteen pieces in the collection to Boulle, among them this table, describing them as 'meubles du plus beau choix du célèbre Boule'. By contrast, other examples in the sale executed in première partie and contre-partie marquetry were simply grouped under the heading of 'meubles de marquetrie'. Lebrun certainly was in a position to make the distinction between objects by Boulle and other makers as he himself possessed numerous examples by Boulle as well as his later imitators.
Unsold in the 1792 sale - hardly surprising considering that this was the height of the Terreur - the table was retained by Haranc de Presle, who waited for better times and in 1795 the table was sold sucessfully.
François-Michel Haranc de Presle was a banker in Paris who lived in the rue du Sentier. He bought numerous pieces of ormlou-mounted porcelain from the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux and was also a client of the most important dealer in Boulle furniture, Claude-François Julliot. He was renowned in his lifetime as a collector of Boulle furniture, for an almanac of artists of 1777 remarked that in his hôtel 'y a joint de précieux ouvrages du fameux boule'. In 1788 Thierry described the banker's collection, citing pendules de Boule et meubles magnifique du même.
The overall form of this writing-table relates most closely to a drawing attributed to Boulle, now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. While the drawing was clearly intended for a larger desk, it contains many of the same motifs, notably in the treatment of the angles and legs. Other closely related designs engraved by Boulle and published by Jean Mariette in around 1720 exhibit similarly formed legs and frieze (notably plates 3 and 4, see J.-P. Samoyault, 'André-Charles Boulle et sa Famille', Hautes Études Médiévales et Modernes, no. 40, Geneève, 1979, pp. 8 and 9). The mounts on this piece provide further verification of Boulle's authorship as his workshop almost certainly produced its own furniture mounts and these mounts were virtually exclusive to him. The distinctive satyr mask escutcheon with sunburst headress appears on a bureau plat in the Frick Collection (T. Dell, Furniture in the Frick Collection, Vermont, 1992, vol. V, pp. 188-203), and on a commode in the Wallace Collection (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. II, no. 138, pp. 644-648), both attributed to Boulle. The latter also exhibits foliate-enriched inner frames to the legs. The same escutcheon mount is depicted on a Boulle engraving of an ecritoire (J.-P. Samoyault, op.cit, p. 216).
The table relates most closely to a small bureau plat attributed to Boulle and stamped by Petit (probably as a restorer) from the Akram Ojjeh collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 10 and again from that of Sir Charles Clore, Christie's Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 48 (1,665,000 FRF.). Another pair of tables in première partie with similar pointed feet were included in the 1956 exhibition, Le Cabinet de l'amateur, no. 216 (Pradère, op. cit.).
WARWICK CASTLE
This bureau formed part of the exceptional collection of Boulle furniture assembled by both George, 2nd Earl of Warwick (d.1816) and his son Henry, 3rd Earl of Warwick (d.1855) at Warwick Castle. George, 2nd Earl, inherited the title in 1773. An avid, if financially reckless collector, he was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Arts and purchased old master paintings, boulle furniture and pietra dura tables, works of art and the famous Warwick Vase from his uncle, Sir William Hamilton. His impetuosity led to bankruptcy in 1802, which was partly allayed by the generosity of his housekepper, Mrs. Hulme. Fortunately the estates were entailed which saved large portions of the collection as well as the lands. Nevertheless the 2nd Early died in penury in 1816, having spent his latter years evolving a soap for the navy that would not curdle in salt water.
Henry, 3rd Earl of Warwick (1778-1855) was financially more astute. His only improvement to the castle was forced upon him when the ceiling of the great hall collapsed in 1830 and he replaced it with a 'medieval' creation designed by Ambrose Poynter. Instead his energies went towards extending the collection; he bought exotic inlaid ebony furniture, works of art and magnificent kunstkammer silver-gilt (including the Duke of York's silver service from Christie's in 1827). The interiors of the state rooms swelled with works of art listed by Kendall and praised by Charles Spicer in his history of Warwick Castle, The Vitruvius Britannicus, 1844, and by Henry Cooke, Warwick Castle and its Gardens, 1846.
As the Heirlooms Inventory of circa 1900 reveals, the documented furniture by Boulle acquired for Warwick, other than the offered bureau, included a set of four guéridons (sold at Christie's London, 30 May 1968, lot 72); a pair of gaînes à tablier illustrated in situ in M. Jourdain, English Interior Decoration, London, p.38; a rectangular table sold from the de Pauw collection, Sotheby's Monaco, 23 June 1986; a bureau plat à têtes chinoises, sold at Christie's Geneva, 18 November 1974, lot 54; and a régulateur illustrated in situ in the Ceadr Room at Warwick in a photograph of circa 1900. The Warwick Castle Collection of Boulle furniture was, therefore, arguably amongst the greatest ever assembled.
The table was clearly felt to be by André-Charles Boulle (d. 1732) at the time of the sale. The expert preparing the catalogue, the celebrated dealer, Jean-Baptiste-Pierre Lebrun (d. 1813), attributed sixteen pieces in the collection to Boulle, among them this table, describing them as 'meubles du plus beau choix du célèbre Boule'. By contrast, other examples in the sale executed in première partie and contre-partie marquetry were simply grouped under the heading of 'meubles de marquetrie'. Lebrun certainly was in a position to make the distinction between objects by Boulle and other makers as he himself possessed numerous examples by Boulle as well as his later imitators.
Unsold in the 1792 sale - hardly surprising considering that this was the height of the Terreur - the table was retained by Haranc de Presle, who waited for better times and in 1795 the table was sold sucessfully.
François-Michel Haranc de Presle was a banker in Paris who lived in the rue du Sentier. He bought numerous pieces of ormlou-mounted porcelain from the marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux and was also a client of the most important dealer in Boulle furniture, Claude-François Julliot. He was renowned in his lifetime as a collector of Boulle furniture, for an almanac of artists of 1777 remarked that in his hôtel 'y a joint de précieux ouvrages du fameux boule'. In 1788 Thierry described the banker's collection, citing pendules de Boule et meubles magnifique du même.
The overall form of this writing-table relates most closely to a drawing attributed to Boulle, now in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. While the drawing was clearly intended for a larger desk, it contains many of the same motifs, notably in the treatment of the angles and legs. Other closely related designs engraved by Boulle and published by Jean Mariette in around 1720 exhibit similarly formed legs and frieze (notably plates 3 and 4, see J.-P. Samoyault, 'André-Charles Boulle et sa Famille', Hautes Études Médiévales et Modernes, no. 40, Geneève, 1979, pp. 8 and 9). The mounts on this piece provide further verification of Boulle's authorship as his workshop almost certainly produced its own furniture mounts and these mounts were virtually exclusive to him. The distinctive satyr mask escutcheon with sunburst headress appears on a bureau plat in the Frick Collection (T. Dell, Furniture in the Frick Collection, Vermont, 1992, vol. V, pp. 188-203), and on a commode in the Wallace Collection (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. II, no. 138, pp. 644-648), both attributed to Boulle. The latter also exhibits foliate-enriched inner frames to the legs. The same escutcheon mount is depicted on a Boulle engraving of an ecritoire (J.-P. Samoyault, op.cit, p. 216).
The table relates most closely to a small bureau plat attributed to Boulle and stamped by Petit (probably as a restorer) from the Akram Ojjeh collection, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 10 and again from that of Sir Charles Clore, Christie's Monaco, 6 December 1985, lot 48 (1,665,000 FRF.). Another pair of tables in première partie with similar pointed feet were included in the 1956 exhibition, Le Cabinet de l'amateur, no. 216 (Pradère, op. cit.).
WARWICK CASTLE
This bureau formed part of the exceptional collection of Boulle furniture assembled by both George, 2nd Earl of Warwick (d.1816) and his son Henry, 3rd Earl of Warwick (d.1855) at Warwick Castle. George, 2nd Earl, inherited the title in 1773. An avid, if financially reckless collector, he was a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Arts and purchased old master paintings, boulle furniture and pietra dura tables, works of art and the famous Warwick Vase from his uncle, Sir William Hamilton. His impetuosity led to bankruptcy in 1802, which was partly allayed by the generosity of his housekepper, Mrs. Hulme. Fortunately the estates were entailed which saved large portions of the collection as well as the lands. Nevertheless the 2nd Early died in penury in 1816, having spent his latter years evolving a soap for the navy that would not curdle in salt water.
Henry, 3rd Earl of Warwick (1778-1855) was financially more astute. His only improvement to the castle was forced upon him when the ceiling of the great hall collapsed in 1830 and he replaced it with a 'medieval' creation designed by Ambrose Poynter. Instead his energies went towards extending the collection; he bought exotic inlaid ebony furniture, works of art and magnificent kunstkammer silver-gilt (including the Duke of York's silver service from Christie's in 1827). The interiors of the state rooms swelled with works of art listed by Kendall and praised by Charles Spicer in his history of Warwick Castle, The Vitruvius Britannicus, 1844, and by Henry Cooke, Warwick Castle and its Gardens, 1846.
As the Heirlooms Inventory of circa 1900 reveals, the documented furniture by Boulle acquired for Warwick, other than the offered bureau, included a set of four guéridons (sold at Christie's London, 30 May 1968, lot 72); a pair of gaînes à tablier illustrated in situ in M. Jourdain, English Interior Decoration, London, p.38; a rectangular table sold from the de Pauw collection, Sotheby's Monaco, 23 June 1986; a bureau plat à têtes chinoises, sold at Christie's Geneva, 18 November 1974, lot 54; and a régulateur illustrated in situ in the Ceadr Room at Warwick in a photograph of circa 1900. The Warwick Castle Collection of Boulle furniture was, therefore, arguably amongst the greatest ever assembled.