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Lot Essay
This sumptuous pair of meubles d'appui was possibly originally from a set of four. An identical contre-partie example, also stamped by Levasseur was exhibited by Jacques Perrin, Paris in 1987 and advertised in L'Objet d'Art, January 1988 (95 x 77 x 42 cm.). Another, of identical size, was acquired by the same antiquaire at Etude Le Mouel, Paris, 9 November 1990 (Ffr. 1,700,000) and again at Million & Robert, Paris, 6 December 1996, lot 272. Both of these had portor marble tops.
It is particularly pertinent, therefore, that the Inventory of the château de Méréville taken following the death of the marquis de Laborde in 1796 records:-
'Petit Salon d'Hiver Quatre bas d'armoires à l'antique à un batant plaqué en marqueterie de Boulle, fond d'ébène, garnis en bronze doré d'or moulu, à dessus de marbre Portor.'
Whilst the Inventory description is lacking in categorical identifying characteristics, the design of this specific model of meubles d'appui - as opposed to those with medals or masks - does not have a prominent central individual decorative motif that would be described in 18th century sale catalogues and Inventories. Although impossible to prove without further information, the Méréville provenance is certainly a possibility.
A further pair of this model en première partie, but with green marble tops, was sold from the Ortiz-Patiño Collection, Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 88.
THE MARQUIS AND MARQUISE DE LABORDE
Born Rosalie Claire Joseph de Nettine in 1737, Madame de Laborde was the daughter of the banker to Empress Maria-Thérésa of Austria. On the 12th of August 1760, she married Jean-Joseph de Laborde, banker to Louis XVI, successor to Paris de Montmartel and friend of the duc de Choiseul. Her three sisters became, through marriage: Madame Lalive de Jully, wife of the celebrated collector; Madame Micauld d'Harvelay, then de Calonne (keeper of the Trésor Royal); and Madame de Walkiers, wife of the most important banker in Brussels.
Incredibly wealthy, and one of the most powerful men in Europe, Jean-Joseph de Laborde was by all accounts held in very high regard. Devastated by the death of two of his sons during the Lapirouse Campaign, then the loss of his daughter Madame Péruse d'Escars, he retired to his Château at Méréville. He was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined in 1794. His son emigrated and his wife and daughter were imprisoned at La Petite Force. Freed after the execution of Robespierre, Madame de Laborde was forced to sell Méréville.
The Château de Méréville was purchased by the marquis de Laborde in 1784 and was considered in the 18th century one of the most beautiful residences in France. Restored by the architect Bélanger, the painter Hubert Robert was consulted on the design of the garden. Four large panels painted by Robert for the grand salon now hang in the Art Institute of Chicago. Daguerre also delivered a régulatur de cheminée and four pieces of furniture, including a pair of contre-partie cabinets stamped by Adam Weisweiler, now in the Wallace Collection, London, and illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, London, 1956, F.393 and F.394, pp. 207-209 and in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. II, pp. 596-597.
THE LEVASSEUR DYNASTY
Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798) was one of the foremost cabinet-makers of his time. He learned his craft with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably from A-C. Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). By 1765, he was established as a privileged craftsman in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, at a shop known as au Cadran bleu. He was made maître-ébéniste on 2 April 1767. Among his patrons were the King's aunts, Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire at Bellevue, and rich collectors such as the fermier-général, Mulot de Pressigny. In 1782, he was made deputé of his guild. Levasseur specialized in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and his stamp appears on many Louis XIV pieces, including many in English country house collections. The principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture Claude-François Julliot was supplied by Levasseur, as well as by Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Jean-Louis Faizelot-Delorme and Weisweiler.
Levasseur père does not appear to have continued working after the Revolution and he died in the rue de Faubourg-Saint-Antoine on 8 December 1798. His son and grandson, however, followed in his footsteps, continuing both the use of his stamp and his specialisation in Boulle marquetry furniture well into the 1820s. Pierre-Etienne was not made a maître, probably because of the Revolution. He married a daughter of Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, and moved to 15 rue Martel, later to 182 Faubourg Saint-Martin where he is recorded in 1807, and finally to 114 Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where his son succeeded him in 1823. The latter, known as Levasseur the Younger, placed an advertisement in the Bazar Parisien in 1822 in which he described himself as perhaps the only ébéniste making and repairing Boulle furniture in Paris, 'furniture seldom seen but avidly sought by collectors and dealers' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.316).
This pair of meubles d'appui relates to those stamped by Levasseur in the collection of the Duke of Wellington at Stratfield Saye, Berkshire. Illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, 'The Great Duke's Taste For French Furniture', Apollo, vol CII, July 1975, p.47 (fig. 8), these latter cabinets - together with a further set of four bibliothèques basses, two meubles d'entre-deux and four pedestals all by Levasseur - were acquired by the triumphant 1st Duke of Wellington from Le Chevalier Firiol de Bonnemaison, circa 1817. An otherwise little-documented marchand-mercier, Le Chevalier is now thought to have been responsible for supplying much of the 'Buhl' furniture that found its way into English collections in the early 19th century, possibly working alongside Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1843). This includes a further pair of closely related cabinets by Levasseur in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, as well as a larger pair of bas d'armoires formerly in the Buccleuch collection, which now form part of the Grog Bequest to the musée du Louvre. It is interesting that Buccleuch, like Wellington, is known to have been in Paris shortly after Waterloo. Another pair of bas d'armoire, originally from the Marquess of Londonderry's collection and now in a Parisian private collection, were also probably supplied by Le Chevalier.
A related set of four, stamped by Levasseur was sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 7 May 1983, lot 212 and is illustrated in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.309.
It is particularly pertinent, therefore, that the Inventory of the château de Méréville taken following the death of the marquis de Laborde in 1796 records:-
'Petit Salon d'Hiver Quatre bas d'armoires à l'antique à un batant plaqué en marqueterie de Boulle, fond d'ébène, garnis en bronze doré d'or moulu, à dessus de marbre Portor.'
Whilst the Inventory description is lacking in categorical identifying characteristics, the design of this specific model of meubles d'appui - as opposed to those with medals or masks - does not have a prominent central individual decorative motif that would be described in 18th century sale catalogues and Inventories. Although impossible to prove without further information, the Méréville provenance is certainly a possibility.
A further pair of this model en première partie, but with green marble tops, was sold from the Ortiz-Patiño Collection, Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 88.
THE MARQUIS AND MARQUISE DE LABORDE
Born Rosalie Claire Joseph de Nettine in 1737, Madame de Laborde was the daughter of the banker to Empress Maria-Thérésa of Austria. On the 12th of August 1760, she married Jean-Joseph de Laborde, banker to Louis XVI, successor to Paris de Montmartel and friend of the duc de Choiseul. Her three sisters became, through marriage: Madame Lalive de Jully, wife of the celebrated collector; Madame Micauld d'Harvelay, then de Calonne (keeper of the Trésor Royal); and Madame de Walkiers, wife of the most important banker in Brussels.
Incredibly wealthy, and one of the most powerful men in Europe, Jean-Joseph de Laborde was by all accounts held in very high regard. Devastated by the death of two of his sons during the Lapirouse Campaign, then the loss of his daughter Madame Péruse d'Escars, he retired to his Château at Méréville. He was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal and guillotined in 1794. His son emigrated and his wife and daughter were imprisoned at La Petite Force. Freed after the execution of Robespierre, Madame de Laborde was forced to sell Méréville.
The Château de Méréville was purchased by the marquis de Laborde in 1784 and was considered in the 18th century one of the most beautiful residences in France. Restored by the architect Bélanger, the painter Hubert Robert was consulted on the design of the garden. Four large panels painted by Robert for the grand salon now hang in the Art Institute of Chicago. Daguerre also delivered a régulatur de cheminée and four pieces of furniture, including a pair of contre-partie cabinets stamped by Adam Weisweiler, now in the Wallace Collection, London, and illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Furniture, London, 1956, F.393 and F.394, pp. 207-209 and in P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection: Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, vol. II, pp. 596-597.
THE LEVASSEUR DYNASTY
Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798) was one of the foremost cabinet-makers of his time. He learned his craft with the sons of André-Charles Boulle, probably from A-C. Boulle the younger (1685-1745) or Charles-Joseph Boulle (d. 1754). By 1765, he was established as a privileged craftsman in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, at a shop known as au Cadran bleu. He was made maître-ébéniste on 2 April 1767. Among his patrons were the King's aunts, Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire at Bellevue, and rich collectors such as the fermier-général, Mulot de Pressigny. In 1782, he was made deputé of his guild. Levasseur specialized in copying and repairing Boulle furniture and his stamp appears on many Louis XIV pieces, including many in English country house collections. The principal marchand-mercier for Boulle furniture Claude-François Julliot was supplied by Levasseur, as well as by Montigny, Joseph Baumhauer, Jean-Louis Faizelot-Delorme and Weisweiler.
Levasseur père does not appear to have continued working after the Revolution and he died in the rue de Faubourg-Saint-Antoine on 8 December 1798. His son and grandson, however, followed in his footsteps, continuing both the use of his stamp and his specialisation in Boulle marquetry furniture well into the 1820s. Pierre-Etienne was not made a maître, probably because of the Revolution. He married a daughter of Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, and moved to 15 rue Martel, later to 182 Faubourg Saint-Martin where he is recorded in 1807, and finally to 114 Faubourg Saint-Antoine, where his son succeeded him in 1823. The latter, known as Levasseur the Younger, placed an advertisement in the Bazar Parisien in 1822 in which he described himself as perhaps the only ébéniste making and repairing Boulle furniture in Paris, 'furniture seldom seen but avidly sought by collectors and dealers' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.316).
This pair of meubles d'appui relates to those stamped by Levasseur in the collection of the Duke of Wellington at Stratfield Saye, Berkshire. Illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, 'The Great Duke's Taste For French Furniture', Apollo, vol CII, July 1975, p.47 (fig. 8), these latter cabinets - together with a further set of four bibliothèques basses, two meubles d'entre-deux and four pedestals all by Levasseur - were acquired by the triumphant 1st Duke of Wellington from Le Chevalier Firiol de Bonnemaison, circa 1817. An otherwise little-documented marchand-mercier, Le Chevalier is now thought to have been responsible for supplying much of the 'Buhl' furniture that found its way into English collections in the early 19th century, possibly working alongside Edward Holmes Baldock (d.1843). This includes a further pair of closely related cabinets by Levasseur in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, as well as a larger pair of bas d'armoires formerly in the Buccleuch collection, which now form part of the Grog Bequest to the musée du Louvre. It is interesting that Buccleuch, like Wellington, is known to have been in Paris shortly after Waterloo. Another pair of bas d'armoire, originally from the Marquess of Londonderry's collection and now in a Parisian private collection, were also probably supplied by Le Chevalier.
A related set of four, stamped by Levasseur was sold anonymously at Sotheby's New York, 7 May 1983, lot 212 and is illustrated in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p.309.