CIRCA 1750, POSSIBLY GERMAN

This unusual coiffeuse is painted beautifully with a number of pastoral scenes in vernis martin, neatly reflecting contemporary artistic taste.

Of typical form for dressing tables of this type, the pastoral scenes are closely related to paintings by the Brussels-born painter Francois Eisen, who from 1745 was active in Paris, and specialised in genre scenes. Clearly influenced by the Flemish tradition of painting, his works depict an idealised version of village life, with families and villagers in relaxed scenes of leisure and celebration. The fashion for vernis martin furniture such as this is perhaps epitomised by the celebrated blue and white commode supplied in 1739 by Mathieu Criaerd for the comtesse de Mailly, preserved in the Louvre (OA 11292). While this earlier commode was decorated in the Chinese style in a conscious imitation of oriental lacquer, the vernis martin decoration of the coiffeuse, while echoing the colour scheme of the commode, reflects the growing popularity of Dutch and Flemish scenes among the French elite in the mid-18th century and the flourishing rococo style championed by native artists like François Boucher. As with earlier phases of the rococo, this fashion swept Europe and found particular popularity in Germany.

The technique of vernis Martin, as seen in the present coiffeuse, was perfected by four brothers who produced what is considered to be the finest form of European japanning, lending their name to what later became a generic term. The elder brothers, Guillaume Martin (d.1749) and Étienne-Simon Martin (d.1770) were granted a monopoly for producing imitations of Chinese and Japanese lacquer in 1730 and this was subsequently renewed in 1744. Vernis Martin was developed from a varnish called cipolin. It is remarkably lustrous and fine in texture and produces an array of colours ranging from greys, greens and blues and enhanced by gold dust beneath the surface producing a sparkling finish. The lengthy process requires the application of as many as forty layers to be applied to the surface, each of which is then polished to the required depth and finish. There were undoubtedly several workshops of vernisseurs although little is know about their work. The inventories of the marchands-merciers rarely give an indication of the suppliers of these japanned items and their work was not marked or signed. A Martin brothers commission which is documented is the supply of the panelling for the apartments of the Dauphine at Versailles in 1749.