.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Within the oeuvre of the ébéniste Pierre Garnier (maître in 1742, d. 1806) one of the pioneers of the early Neoclassical style or goût grec, this bold ensemble is one of his most daring and innovative creations. Its linear architectural forms are framed by bold fluting, masks and rosettes; they rest on spiral feet, one of the elements directly taken from Louis XIV pieces, which were one of the sources of inspiration of the so called goût grec. Garnier’s earliest recorded items in this revolutionary style date from 1761 when his pioneering pieces were exhibited in the Salon in collaboration with the architect Charles de Wailly; the present ensemble, and a small number of closely related pieces, were almost certainly produced at this turning point in the history of taste.
To these 'modern' forms Garnier skilfully applied Chinese lacquer with bold and colourful overscale patterns, which were clearly favoured by the ébéniste.
This impressive ensemble is first recorded in Bute House, the London residence of the renowned collector Henri Louis Bischoffsheim (1829-1908).
PIERRE GARNIER AND THE GOÛT GREC.
The son of the Parisian ébéniste François Garnier, Pierre, who in 1742 became maître-ébéniste at the early age of 16, went on to play a role in the early development of neo-classical furniture equally remarkable as those of the famous German-born Jean-François Oeben and Joseph Baumhauer. As early as 1761, when the so-called goût grec was only just making itself felt, the avant-garde architect Charles de Wailly presented at the bi-annual Paris Salon a number of revolutionary pieces of furniture, one of which was a secrétaire or desk belonging to Marie-Thérèse du Cluzel de la Chabrerie, wife of the maître des requêtes, Philippe-Etienne Desvieux, which was made by Garnier and was described in the Avant-Coureur as being traité dans le meilleur goût de Boulle; this implies that it was of severe outline, veneered with ebony and fitted with ponderous gilt-bronze mounts (Huchet de Quénetain, p. 29). This early and highly publicised collaboration with De Wailly may have brought Garnier to the attention of one of the most influential protagonists of the new style, Madame de Pompadour's brother, the directeur des Bâtiments, the Marquis de Marigny. As a remarkable series of letters from Marigny to his cabinet-maker testifies, he held Garnier in high esteem and entrusted him with a variety of commissions (Svend Eriksen, 'Some letters from the Marquis de Marigny to his cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier', Furniture History 8 (1972), pp. 78-85). For instance, Marigny asked Garnier to design various items of furniture, as well as the mounts with which to enrich a plain piece of ebony furniture; obviously, the cabinet-maker was himself active as a designer, which may explain the idiosyncratic nature of many of his most ambitious productions.
LACQUER-MOUNTED FURNITURE
Like much of his other work, Garnier's lacquer-mounted furniture can quite easily be distinguished from that of his contemporaries; for that reason, the present set which is closely related to some examples stamped by the maker, may confidently be attributed to him. The gilt bronze spiralled toupie feet and the strongly emphasized fluted corners are highly characteristic, and this particular type of Chinese lacquer, dating from about 1725-1740, was favoured by the ébéniste. A comparable set comprising a commode and two corner cupboards stamped by Garnier was sold, Sotheby's, London, 3 July 1959, lot 184; this may have been made en suite with a secrétaire (Huchet de Quénetain, cat. nos. 102, 124 and 190, figs. on pp. 129 and 130). Equally close is a pair of commodes à encoignures, one sold, Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 1936, Lot 262, and the other from the André Meyer collection, Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 30; and a red lacquer armoire in the Musée de l'hôtel Sandelin in Saint-Omer, all stamped by Garnier (Huchet de Quénetain, cat. no. 128, ill. on p. 135). All the parallels notwithstanding, the massive, fluted corner stiles, headed by impressive lion's heads, are unique to the present pieces. These highly architectural features make a somewhat unexpected combination with the curved aprons mounted with faun's heads. Equally unusual are the gilt bronze moulding with cabochons below the marble tops, the oversized ring handles on the commode, and the row of three smaller disk mounts in the centre; the upper and lower one conceal key-holes but that in the middle is purely ornamental. Juxtaposed in a bold and engaging manner, all these unorthodox elements speak of a highly gifted cabinet-maker who largely designed his own work. Similarly prominent fluted angles are found on some veneered furniture by Garnier from the 1760s, such as two massive cylinder-top desks, a celebrated series of writing tables and a pair of commodes dated 1768 in the Swedish Royal Collection at Gripsholm Castle, bearing the stamp of both Garnier and Bon Durand (Alexandre Pradère, Les ébénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris 1989, figs. 252, 253 and 257). It comes as no surprise that the work of this adventurous ébéniste appealed to some of the most demanding and progressive patrons of his time.
THE PROVENANCE
Lady Kerry, born Amelia Catherine Bischoffsheim (d.1947) was the daughter of Henri Louis Bischoffsheim, member of an important European banking family, and Clarissa Eva Yetta Biedermann, daughter of a Habsbourg court jeweler and art collector, Herr Bidderman. Amelia married Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, 2nd Bt. (d.1916) in 1882, with whom she had two children, Louise Nesta Pamela (d.1946) and John Peter Gerald Maurice (d.1957). In 1919, Sir John Fitzgerald married Lady Mildred Murray, daughter of Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore and Lady Gertrude Coke, and died at the age of 72 in 1957. Henri-Louis Bischoffsheim lived at Bute House, 75 South Audley Street, London, which he had acquired in 1872. Bute House - now the Egyptian Embassy - bears the name of its third occupant, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, K.G., P.C. (d.1792), Prime Minister of Great-Britain (1762-1763) who moved there in 1753.
This superb suite of lacquer furniture was part of the Bischoffsheim's exquisite collection of Old Master pictures, French furniture and objets d'art. One of the encoignures stood in the Blue Drawing Room is illustrated in John Cornforth, 'London Interiors, From the Archives of Country Life', London, 2000, p.99. This Room was famed for the Tiepolo ceiling painting of 'An Allegory with Venus and Time', originally painted for the early 15th Century Palazzo Contarini Del Bovolo in Venice, later removed from the Palazzo in the mid-19th Century and acquired by Sir John Fitzgerald's grandfather in 1876 to form part of the Bischoffsheims' art collection. In the boudoir at Bute House, which is illustrated in John Cornforth, op. cit., p.101, one can discern the magnificent lacquer commode to the left of the concert harp, behind the richly-patterned curtains which flank the double doors.
LITERATURE:
International Art Treasures Exhibition, presented by C.I.N.O.A. (the International Confederation of Art Dealers), Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1962, no. 150.
To these 'modern' forms Garnier skilfully applied Chinese lacquer with bold and colourful overscale patterns, which were clearly favoured by the ébéniste.
This impressive ensemble is first recorded in Bute House, the London residence of the renowned collector Henri Louis Bischoffsheim (1829-1908).
PIERRE GARNIER AND THE GOÛT GREC.
The son of the Parisian ébéniste François Garnier, Pierre, who in 1742 became maître-ébéniste at the early age of 16, went on to play a role in the early development of neo-classical furniture equally remarkable as those of the famous German-born Jean-François Oeben and Joseph Baumhauer. As early as 1761, when the so-called goût grec was only just making itself felt, the avant-garde architect Charles de Wailly presented at the bi-annual Paris Salon a number of revolutionary pieces of furniture, one of which was a secrétaire or desk belonging to Marie-Thérèse du Cluzel de la Chabrerie, wife of the maître des requêtes, Philippe-Etienne Desvieux, which was made by Garnier and was described in the Avant-Coureur as being traité dans le meilleur goût de Boulle; this implies that it was of severe outline, veneered with ebony and fitted with ponderous gilt-bronze mounts (Huchet de Quénetain, p. 29). This early and highly publicised collaboration with De Wailly may have brought Garnier to the attention of one of the most influential protagonists of the new style, Madame de Pompadour's brother, the directeur des Bâtiments, the Marquis de Marigny. As a remarkable series of letters from Marigny to his cabinet-maker testifies, he held Garnier in high esteem and entrusted him with a variety of commissions (Svend Eriksen, 'Some letters from the Marquis de Marigny to his cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier', Furniture History 8 (1972), pp. 78-85). For instance, Marigny asked Garnier to design various items of furniture, as well as the mounts with which to enrich a plain piece of ebony furniture; obviously, the cabinet-maker was himself active as a designer, which may explain the idiosyncratic nature of many of his most ambitious productions.
LACQUER-MOUNTED FURNITURE
Like much of his other work, Garnier's lacquer-mounted furniture can quite easily be distinguished from that of his contemporaries; for that reason, the present set which is closely related to some examples stamped by the maker, may confidently be attributed to him. The gilt bronze spiralled toupie feet and the strongly emphasized fluted corners are highly characteristic, and this particular type of Chinese lacquer, dating from about 1725-1740, was favoured by the ébéniste. A comparable set comprising a commode and two corner cupboards stamped by Garnier was sold, Sotheby's, London, 3 July 1959, lot 184; this may have been made en suite with a secrétaire (Huchet de Quénetain, cat. nos. 102, 124 and 190, figs. on pp. 129 and 130). Equally close is a pair of commodes à encoignures, one sold, Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 1936, Lot 262, and the other from the André Meyer collection, Christie's, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 30; and a red lacquer armoire in the Musée de l'hôtel Sandelin in Saint-Omer, all stamped by Garnier (Huchet de Quénetain, cat. no. 128, ill. on p. 135). All the parallels notwithstanding, the massive, fluted corner stiles, headed by impressive lion's heads, are unique to the present pieces. These highly architectural features make a somewhat unexpected combination with the curved aprons mounted with faun's heads. Equally unusual are the gilt bronze moulding with cabochons below the marble tops, the oversized ring handles on the commode, and the row of three smaller disk mounts in the centre; the upper and lower one conceal key-holes but that in the middle is purely ornamental. Juxtaposed in a bold and engaging manner, all these unorthodox elements speak of a highly gifted cabinet-maker who largely designed his own work. Similarly prominent fluted angles are found on some veneered furniture by Garnier from the 1760s, such as two massive cylinder-top desks, a celebrated series of writing tables and a pair of commodes dated 1768 in the Swedish Royal Collection at Gripsholm Castle, bearing the stamp of both Garnier and Bon Durand (Alexandre Pradère, Les ébénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris 1989, figs. 252, 253 and 257). It comes as no surprise that the work of this adventurous ébéniste appealed to some of the most demanding and progressive patrons of his time.
THE PROVENANCE
Lady Kerry, born Amelia Catherine Bischoffsheim (d.1947) was the daughter of Henri Louis Bischoffsheim, member of an important European banking family, and Clarissa Eva Yetta Biedermann, daughter of a Habsbourg court jeweler and art collector, Herr Bidderman. Amelia married Sir Maurice Fitzgerald, 2nd Bt. (d.1916) in 1882, with whom she had two children, Louise Nesta Pamela (d.1946) and John Peter Gerald Maurice (d.1957). In 1919, Sir John Fitzgerald married Lady Mildred Murray, daughter of Charles Adolphus Murray, 7th Earl of Dunmore and Lady Gertrude Coke, and died at the age of 72 in 1957. Henri-Louis Bischoffsheim lived at Bute House, 75 South Audley Street, London, which he had acquired in 1872. Bute House - now the Egyptian Embassy - bears the name of its third occupant, John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, K.G., P.C. (d.1792), Prime Minister of Great-Britain (1762-1763) who moved there in 1753.
This superb suite of lacquer furniture was part of the Bischoffsheim's exquisite collection of Old Master pictures, French furniture and objets d'art. One of the encoignures stood in the Blue Drawing Room is illustrated in John Cornforth, 'London Interiors, From the Archives of Country Life', London, 2000, p.99. This Room was famed for the Tiepolo ceiling painting of 'An Allegory with Venus and Time', originally painted for the early 15th Century Palazzo Contarini Del Bovolo in Venice, later removed from the Palazzo in the mid-19th Century and acquired by Sir John Fitzgerald's grandfather in 1876 to form part of the Bischoffsheims' art collection. In the boudoir at Bute House, which is illustrated in John Cornforth, op. cit., p.101, one can discern the magnificent lacquer commode to the left of the concert harp, behind the richly-patterned curtains which flank the double doors.
LITERATURE:
International Art Treasures Exhibition, presented by C.I.N.O.A. (the International Confederation of Art Dealers), Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 1962, no. 150.