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Lot Essay
This table-à-chiffonière is firmly attributable to the ébéniste Guillaume Kemp (maître in 1764) on the basis of a virtually identical example stamped by Kemp and later retailed by the celebrated English marchand-mercier Edward Holmes Baldock (sold 'Le Grand Goût', A Private European Collection, Christie's, London, 17 June 2009, lot 16).
Although this parquetry pattern was not exclusive to Kemp and shares much in common with the oeuvres of both RVLC (dit Lacroix) and Godefroy Dester, certain characteristics featured here allow us to differentiate Kemp's oeuvre from that of Dester of other fellow ébénistes. These are the oval medallion flanked by laurel reserves to the top and triple veneer bands which delineate the floret-inset lozenges.
A related example by Dester from the Rosebery/Rothschild Collection at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, sold Sotheby's house sale, 18 May 1977, lot 441 (ill. A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p. 330, fig. 382).
Although this parquetry pattern was not exclusive to Kemp and shares much in common with the oeuvres of both RVLC (dit Lacroix) and Godefroy Dester, certain characteristics featured here allow us to differentiate Kemp's oeuvre from that of Dester of other fellow ébénistes. These are the oval medallion flanked by laurel reserves to the top and triple veneer bands which delineate the floret-inset lozenges.
A related example by Dester from the Rosebery/Rothschild Collection at Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire, sold Sotheby's house sale, 18 May 1977, lot 441 (ill. A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p. 330, fig. 382).