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Lot Essay
Delivered by the ébéniste du roi and fournisseur du Garde-Meuble, Gilles Joubert, on 1 June 1774, just weeks after the death of Louis XV and the coronation of Louis XVI, to the château de Compiègne, this magnificent secrétaire à abattant was intended for the cabinet Interieur of the comte d'Artois. Incredibly richly decorated with beautifully sculpted figures of young tritons and veneered à mosaique with a sumptuous trellis parquetry studded with diamond-like ormolu lozenges - a feature found exclusively on Royal commissions - this secrétaire incorporates stylistic elements of the established style of Louis XV as well as the incoming neo-classicism of Louis XVI and represents an iconic moment in Royal furniture.
THE CHATEAU DE COMPIEGNE
Built for Louis XV the château de Compiègne was, together with Versailles and Fontainebleau, one of the three main royal residences and the preferred summer residence with the extensive hunting grounds in the Compiègne forests. In 1750, Louis XV's preferred architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel proposed a thorough renovation of the château. Work began in 1751 and was finished in 1788 by Gabriel's student Le Dreux de La Châtre. The ancient town ramparts dictated the château's triangular plan, while it was otherwise entirely Neo-classical in style, with simplicity and clarity governing both its external architecture and interior features.
All royal weddings of that time were held at Compiègne, including that of the Dauphin and the Dauphine in 1770, that of the comte de Provence in 1771 and that of the comte d'Artois in 1773. Appartements were created for all members of the young generation of the Royal Court, with those of the comte d'Artois on the 'cour des cuisines'. During the French Revolution, the château passed into the jurisdiction of the Minister for the Interior and in 1795 the château was basically gutted, with all furniture sold and its works of art sent to the Muséum Central. The comte d'Artois had by then long left France. He was one of the first emigrés, leaving for Turin in July 1789. His possessions were seized by the Revolutionary government and mostly sold to pay off his extensive creditors. His apartments at Compiègne were destroyed in 1809 when Napoleon built in their place the Salle de Bal.
GILLES JOUBERT AND 'RVLC'
This secrétaire, with its distinctive angle mounts and studded lozenge marquetry, belongs to a distinguished group almost exclusively supplied by Gilles Joubert in his capacity as fournisseur du Garde-Meuble. Joubert (1689-1775), marchand-ébéniste and fournisseur du garde-meuble Royal between 1751-75, was already in his early 80's when he supplied this secrétaire to the château de Compiègne. This fact, together with the enormous number of commissions - between 1748 and 1774 Joubert delivered more than 4,000 pieces of furniture to the garde-meuble - explains why he chose to play more of a supervisory role, sub-contracting much of the work to his confrères. The 1774 list of Joubert's creditors records several of these confrères, including Macret, Boudin, Denizot and others, but the largest debt was owed to R.V.L.C (900 livres). That listing of Joubert's creditors may also throw some light on the authors of the sculptural ormolu mounts he employed, as both the sculpteur-fondeur Etienne Forestier and the ciseleur-doreur Jouniaux are listed.
Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728. As was typical of the time when the guild system defined ones social standing as well as more personal contacts, Roger's three sisters all married maître-ébénistes. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. From the beginning of his career, Lacroix specialised in the production of costly items of furniture, often embellished with intricate marquetry and sophisticated mechanical devices.
(For a full discussion of the relationship between RVLC and Joubert see A. Pradère, Les ébénistes Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp. 214-215 and P. Verlet, French Royal Furniture, London, 1963, pp. 120-122, nos. 11-12.)
THE MARQUETRY 'A MOSAIQUES'
The group of furniture delivered by Gilles Joubert on 1 June 1774 for the comte d'Artois at the Château de Compiègne ('pour Servir à Monsieur le Comte d'Artois au Château de Compiègne') is recorded in the Journal de Garde-Meuble de la Couronne as nos. 2753 to 2757. Of the six pieces included in that delivery three feature close similarities to the present secrétaire, namely in the striking marquetry 'à mosaiques' of shaped studded lozenges, which appears to be exclusive to Royal commissions:
-no. 2753 - the present secretaire ('Un secrétaire en armoire de bois de rose à dessus de marbre blanc veiné, les panneaux à mozaiques, le devant s'abat et forme une table à écrire ouverte d'un carré de velours noir encadré d'un passepoil d'or et renferme 7 tiroirs dont un à droite garni d'encrier et poudrier de cuivre argenté, le bas sont deux tablettes d'armoire, fermant à clef, le secrétaire enrichi par le haut d'un enfant therme de chaque côte et dans la totalité de divers ornements de bronze cizelé et surdoré d'or moulu, large de 3 pieds sur 16 pouces de profondeur et 4 pieds 2 pouces de haut')
-no. 2754 - A bonheur du jour
-no. 2755 - A bureau plat
-no. 2756 - A commode with marquetry à mosaiques
-no. 2757 - Two commodes with marquetry à mosaiques
The striking studded marquetry, employed on the façade of this secrétaire as well as on the three commodes delivered on the same day, proved particularly popular and enduring with the Garde Meuble. Featuring first on a commode supplied in 1771 by Gilles Joubert for the use of Marie Antoinette at Versailles, it was still used almost 20 years later, in 1790, on another commode, delivered by the then ébéniste du roi, Guillaume Benneman, for the Cabinet Interieur of Madame Elisabeth at Versailles. That exact marquetry with shaped studded lozenges was also employed on the following pieces supplied by Joubert to the Garde Meuble Royal:
-A commode supplied on 14 October 1771 for the Grand Cabinet of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. This commode features the same Vitruvian scroll frieze but has angle mounts cast with the figures of Hebe and Bacchus instead of the young tritons. Restored by Benneman in 1786 it was moved to the Cabinet Intérieur of Louis XVI at Compiègne.
-Two further commodes supplied in 1771 to Marie-Antoinette at Versailles and subsequently moved to Fontainebleau on 11 August 1786 for Louis XVI's Cabinet la Poudre. Both were at that point restored by Benneman, who replaced the original 'rouge griotte d'Italie' tops against white veined marbles.
-A slightly breakfront commode, supplied by Joubert on 8 November 1773 for the Bedchamber of the Comtesse d'Artois at Versailles, now with the Dukes of Roxburgh at Floors Castle, Scotland. Listed under no. 2718 in the Journal de Garde Meuble it features the neo-classical garlanded angle mounts, which were also employed on the commodes delivered together with the present secrétaire on 1 June 1774.
-A further commode, closely related to those delivered to the Garde Meuble under no. 2757, though of slightly larger proportions. Stencilled with the no. 2772 and featuring the same studded lozenge marquetry.
-A further commode, almost identical to the one listed above, was supplied by Benneman on 10 May 1790 for the Cabinet Intérieur of Madame Elisabeth. The last royal commission to feature the marquetry of studded shaped lozenges, it is stamped by Benneman and recorded in a Mémoire from the Garde Meuble listing furniture made by Benneman as having been delivered en suite with a secrétaire en armoire and a table-à-écrire. The commode was sold at Christie's, London, 17 June 1987 (£374,000).
THE 'ENFANTS TRITONS' MOUNTS
The enfants tritons mounts also feature on the following royal pieces supplied by Joubert:
-A commode supplied on 30 September 1771 for the Cabinet de Retraite of the Comtesse de Provence at Fontainebleau. Recorded under no. 2636 in the Journal de Garde Meuble de la Couronne it was, like this secrétaire, subcontracted to RVLC. The commode was subsequently with the Duc de Coigny, the Vicomtesse Vigier, and sold Palais Galleria, Paris, 2-3 June 1970, lot 147 and again, from the property of Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll, Christie's, New York, 11 November 1977, lot 128. Most recently it was sold at Christie's, New York, 2 November 2000, lot 50 ($1,491,000).
-A commode supplied on 22 June 1774 for the Bedchamber of Madame Adelaide de France at Marly. The Journal lists it under no. 2767 as having been supplied by Riesener, who had succeeded Joubert that very month; however, this might well have been either a clerical mistake, or the commode could have indeed been part of the furniture left by Joubert to be delivered by his successor to the Crown. The commode was subsequently owned by Mrs Lyne Stephen, who bequeathed it to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1895.
-A Secrétaire en armoire supplied by Joubert on 30 June 1774 'pour servir au besoin dans les Maisons Royalles' [see illustration]. Listed under no.2768 in the Journal du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne it is not stamped but firmly attributed to RVLC. The secrétaire was acquired in 1822 by Paul Beilby Lawley-Thompson, 1st baron Wenlock and it was bequeathed by a descendant to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 1970. The consecutive inventory numbers of the commode and secrétaire suggest that the secrétaire was conceived en suite with the commode and similarly intended for appartement of Madame Adelaide, despite the general entry for it in the Journal.
Interestingly, the delivery entry in the Journal de Garde Meuble for the present secrétaire records its top to have been of white marble and it is most likely that the present top in rouge griotte d'Italie was supplied circa 1786-7 by Lanfant, who is recorded to have supplied many of the marble tops for pieces executed or restored by Benneman (see 'Memoire d'Hauré', 2nd semester 1786, in P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. IV, Picard, 1990, p. 71).
THE CHATEAU DE COMPIEGNE
Built for Louis XV the château de Compiègne was, together with Versailles and Fontainebleau, one of the three main royal residences and the preferred summer residence with the extensive hunting grounds in the Compiègne forests. In 1750, Louis XV's preferred architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel proposed a thorough renovation of the château. Work began in 1751 and was finished in 1788 by Gabriel's student Le Dreux de La Châtre. The ancient town ramparts dictated the château's triangular plan, while it was otherwise entirely Neo-classical in style, with simplicity and clarity governing both its external architecture and interior features.
All royal weddings of that time were held at Compiègne, including that of the Dauphin and the Dauphine in 1770, that of the comte de Provence in 1771 and that of the comte d'Artois in 1773. Appartements were created for all members of the young generation of the Royal Court, with those of the comte d'Artois on the 'cour des cuisines'. During the French Revolution, the château passed into the jurisdiction of the Minister for the Interior and in 1795 the château was basically gutted, with all furniture sold and its works of art sent to the Muséum Central. The comte d'Artois had by then long left France. He was one of the first emigrés, leaving for Turin in July 1789. His possessions were seized by the Revolutionary government and mostly sold to pay off his extensive creditors. His apartments at Compiègne were destroyed in 1809 when Napoleon built in their place the Salle de Bal.
GILLES JOUBERT AND 'RVLC'
This secrétaire, with its distinctive angle mounts and studded lozenge marquetry, belongs to a distinguished group almost exclusively supplied by Gilles Joubert in his capacity as fournisseur du Garde-Meuble. Joubert (1689-1775), marchand-ébéniste and fournisseur du garde-meuble Royal between 1751-75, was already in his early 80's when he supplied this secrétaire to the château de Compiègne. This fact, together with the enormous number of commissions - between 1748 and 1774 Joubert delivered more than 4,000 pieces of furniture to the garde-meuble - explains why he chose to play more of a supervisory role, sub-contracting much of the work to his confrères. The 1774 list of Joubert's creditors records several of these confrères, including Macret, Boudin, Denizot and others, but the largest debt was owed to R.V.L.C (900 livres). That listing of Joubert's creditors may also throw some light on the authors of the sculptural ormolu mounts he employed, as both the sculpteur-fondeur Etienne Forestier and the ciseleur-doreur Jouniaux are listed.
Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix, was born the son of the ouvrier libre François van der Cruse in 1728. As was typical of the time when the guild system defined ones social standing as well as more personal contacts, Roger's three sisters all married maître-ébénistes. Elected maître in 1755, Roger took over his father's business and was soon supplying furniture to the ébéniste Pierre II Migeon, directly to Madame du Barry at Louveciennes, the Garde-Meuble and the duc d'Orléans. From the beginning of his career, Lacroix specialised in the production of costly items of furniture, often embellished with intricate marquetry and sophisticated mechanical devices.
(For a full discussion of the relationship between RVLC and Joubert see A. Pradère, Les ébénistes Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp. 214-215 and P. Verlet, French Royal Furniture, London, 1963, pp. 120-122, nos. 11-12.)
THE MARQUETRY 'A MOSAIQUES'
The group of furniture delivered by Gilles Joubert on 1 June 1774 for the comte d'Artois at the Château de Compiègne ('pour Servir à Monsieur le Comte d'Artois au Château de Compiègne') is recorded in the Journal de Garde-Meuble de la Couronne as nos. 2753 to 2757. Of the six pieces included in that delivery three feature close similarities to the present secrétaire, namely in the striking marquetry 'à mosaiques' of shaped studded lozenges, which appears to be exclusive to Royal commissions:
-no. 2753 - the present secretaire ('Un secrétaire en armoire de bois de rose à dessus de marbre blanc veiné, les panneaux à mozaiques, le devant s'abat et forme une table à écrire ouverte d'un carré de velours noir encadré d'un passepoil d'or et renferme 7 tiroirs dont un à droite garni d'encrier et poudrier de cuivre argenté, le bas sont deux tablettes d'armoire, fermant à clef, le secrétaire enrichi par le haut d'un enfant therme de chaque côte et dans la totalité de divers ornements de bronze cizelé et surdoré d'or moulu, large de 3 pieds sur 16 pouces de profondeur et 4 pieds 2 pouces de haut')
-no. 2754 - A bonheur du jour
-no. 2755 - A bureau plat
-no. 2756 - A commode with marquetry à mosaiques
-no. 2757 - Two commodes with marquetry à mosaiques
The striking studded marquetry, employed on the façade of this secrétaire as well as on the three commodes delivered on the same day, proved particularly popular and enduring with the Garde Meuble. Featuring first on a commode supplied in 1771 by Gilles Joubert for the use of Marie Antoinette at Versailles, it was still used almost 20 years later, in 1790, on another commode, delivered by the then ébéniste du roi, Guillaume Benneman, for the Cabinet Interieur of Madame Elisabeth at Versailles. That exact marquetry with shaped studded lozenges was also employed on the following pieces supplied by Joubert to the Garde Meuble Royal:
-A commode supplied on 14 October 1771 for the Grand Cabinet of Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. This commode features the same Vitruvian scroll frieze but has angle mounts cast with the figures of Hebe and Bacchus instead of the young tritons. Restored by Benneman in 1786 it was moved to the Cabinet Intérieur of Louis XVI at Compiègne.
-Two further commodes supplied in 1771 to Marie-Antoinette at Versailles and subsequently moved to Fontainebleau on 11 August 1786 for Louis XVI's Cabinet la Poudre. Both were at that point restored by Benneman, who replaced the original 'rouge griotte d'Italie' tops against white veined marbles.
-A slightly breakfront commode, supplied by Joubert on 8 November 1773 for the Bedchamber of the Comtesse d'Artois at Versailles, now with the Dukes of Roxburgh at Floors Castle, Scotland. Listed under no. 2718 in the Journal de Garde Meuble it features the neo-classical garlanded angle mounts, which were also employed on the commodes delivered together with the present secrétaire on 1 June 1774.
-A further commode, closely related to those delivered to the Garde Meuble under no. 2757, though of slightly larger proportions. Stencilled with the no. 2772 and featuring the same studded lozenge marquetry.
-A further commode, almost identical to the one listed above, was supplied by Benneman on 10 May 1790 for the Cabinet Intérieur of Madame Elisabeth. The last royal commission to feature the marquetry of studded shaped lozenges, it is stamped by Benneman and recorded in a Mémoire from the Garde Meuble listing furniture made by Benneman as having been delivered en suite with a secrétaire en armoire and a table-à-écrire. The commode was sold at Christie's, London, 17 June 1987 (£374,000).
THE 'ENFANTS TRITONS' MOUNTS
The enfants tritons mounts also feature on the following royal pieces supplied by Joubert:
-A commode supplied on 30 September 1771 for the Cabinet de Retraite of the Comtesse de Provence at Fontainebleau. Recorded under no. 2636 in the Journal de Garde Meuble de la Couronne it was, like this secrétaire, subcontracted to RVLC. The commode was subsequently with the Duc de Coigny, the Vicomtesse Vigier, and sold Palais Galleria, Paris, 2-3 June 1970, lot 147 and again, from the property of Elinor Dorrance Ingersoll, Christie's, New York, 11 November 1977, lot 128. Most recently it was sold at Christie's, New York, 2 November 2000, lot 50 ($1,491,000).
-A commode supplied on 22 June 1774 for the Bedchamber of Madame Adelaide de France at Marly. The Journal lists it under no. 2767 as having been supplied by Riesener, who had succeeded Joubert that very month; however, this might well have been either a clerical mistake, or the commode could have indeed been part of the furniture left by Joubert to be delivered by his successor to the Crown. The commode was subsequently owned by Mrs Lyne Stephen, who bequeathed it to the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1895.
-A Secrétaire en armoire supplied by Joubert on 30 June 1774 'pour servir au besoin dans les Maisons Royalles' [see illustration]. Listed under no.2768 in the Journal du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne it is not stamped but firmly attributed to RVLC. The secrétaire was acquired in 1822 by Paul Beilby Lawley-Thompson, 1st baron Wenlock and it was bequeathed by a descendant to the Victoria & Albert Museum, London in 1970. The consecutive inventory numbers of the commode and secrétaire suggest that the secrétaire was conceived en suite with the commode and similarly intended for appartement of Madame Adelaide, despite the general entry for it in the Journal.
Interestingly, the delivery entry in the Journal de Garde Meuble for the present secrétaire records its top to have been of white marble and it is most likely that the present top in rouge griotte d'Italie was supplied circa 1786-7 by Lanfant, who is recorded to have supplied many of the marble tops for pieces executed or restored by Benneman (see 'Memoire d'Hauré', 2nd semester 1786, in P. Verlet, Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. IV, Picard, 1990, p. 71).