Lot Essay
Claude-Charles Saunier, maître in 1752.
This commode à l'anglaise relates to the oeuvre supplied by the celebrated marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. Heir to Simon-Philippe Poirier's (d. 1785) atelier, Daguerre specialised in supplying objets de luxe to the French Court and, after the Revolution, to the English nobility. Based in the rue St. Honoré, as his trade label reveals he 'Tient Magafin de Porcelaines, Bronzes, Ebénisterie, Glaces, Curiosités, & autres Marchandifes'. In 1786, Daguerre signed an exclusive agreement with Josiah Wedgwood to sell Wedgwood's jasperware in France, and in the following year he was commissioned to supply the furnishings for George, Prince of Wales at Carlton House under the direction of Henry Holland.
Opening a shop in Piccadilly, Daguerre was patronised by, amongst others the Duke of York, Lady Holderness, the 5th Duke of Bedford and the 2nd Earl Spencer. This latter commission included a pair of consoles desserte, described in Daguerre's bill of 31 May 1791 as 'Deux Consoles en Bois d'acajou avec tablettes de marbre entre les Pieds, garni de frieze mouleur et autres Bronzes doré d'or moulu, les Dessus en marbre Blanc à 960 - 1920 livres'. Executed by the ébéniste Claude-Charles Saunier, they are of related form and display a very similar canaux et tigettes frieze (F.J.B. Watson, Louis XVI Furniture, London, 1960, fig. 145). This frieze and form is, however, by no means exclusive to Saunier and can also be seen on the console desserte by Weisweiler illustrated in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p. 80.
The distinctive drapery-swagged and ribbon-tied apron-mount also features on a 'commode à l'anglaise' and matching encoignures by Saunier decorated with Japanese lacquer (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, pp. 365-6, figs. 433 & 434). Likewise, however, this mount can also be seen in Martin Carlin's oeuvre.
This commode à l'anglaise relates to the oeuvre supplied by the celebrated marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre. Heir to Simon-Philippe Poirier's (d. 1785) atelier, Daguerre specialised in supplying objets de luxe to the French Court and, after the Revolution, to the English nobility. Based in the rue St. Honoré, as his trade label reveals he 'Tient Magafin de Porcelaines, Bronzes, Ebénisterie, Glaces, Curiosités, & autres Marchandifes'. In 1786, Daguerre signed an exclusive agreement with Josiah Wedgwood to sell Wedgwood's jasperware in France, and in the following year he was commissioned to supply the furnishings for George, Prince of Wales at Carlton House under the direction of Henry Holland.
Opening a shop in Piccadilly, Daguerre was patronised by, amongst others the Duke of York, Lady Holderness, the 5th Duke of Bedford and the 2nd Earl Spencer. This latter commission included a pair of consoles desserte, described in Daguerre's bill of 31 May 1791 as 'Deux Consoles en Bois d'acajou avec tablettes de marbre entre les Pieds, garni de frieze mouleur et autres Bronzes doré d'or moulu, les Dessus en marbre Blanc à 960 - 1920 livres'. Executed by the ébéniste Claude-Charles Saunier, they are of related form and display a very similar canaux et tigettes frieze (F.J.B. Watson, Louis XVI Furniture, London, 1960, fig. 145). This frieze and form is, however, by no means exclusive to Saunier and can also be seen on the console desserte by Weisweiler illustrated in P. Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Paris, 1983, p. 80.
The distinctive drapery-swagged and ribbon-tied apron-mount also features on a 'commode à l'anglaise' and matching encoignures by Saunier decorated with Japanese lacquer (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, pp. 365-6, figs. 433 & 434). Likewise, however, this mount can also be seen in Martin Carlin's oeuvre.