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Lot Essay
Joseph Baumhauer, known as Joseph, ébéniste privilégié du roi in 1768.
This lot, with its distinctive break-front shape clad in precious Japanese lacquer, belongs to a rare and exclusive group of magnificent commodes, of which only three are known. The first of these is the iconic commode delivered to the marquis de Marigny in 1766, which closely relates to the present lot in its robust ormolu mounts, formed as lion masks, lush swags, and paw feet (D. Alcouffe, et. al., 18th Century: Birth of Design, Dijon, 2014, p. 203., fig. 1). The Zilkha secretaire and the Marigny commode are also both fitted with large-scale voluted ormolu chutes, and, most importantly, are inset with Japanese lacquer panels depicting scenes with near-identical composition.
A second very similar commode by Joseph de Baumhauer is illustrated ibid, p. 202. This commode, although closer to the Marigny example than to the present lot, shares with the Zilkha commode its lacquer-inset frieze drawers, voluted chutes, and acanthus-cast apron mount. As our lot does not feature ormolu feet, lion masks, ribbon-tied garlands and shaped framing mounts to the doors, it can perhaps be seen as a prototype for the these two comparable commodes. Although the present commode is not stamped, its numerous similarities with the above works can help us firmly attribute this lot to Joseph.
As evidenced by the group of three commodes, Joseph was greatly influenced by the oeuvre of André-Charles Boulle. The framing mounts, the veneering at the interiors of the doors, and well as the feet, which are similar to those found on Boulle’s armoires, all illustrate Joseph’s knowledge of the work of the greatest cabinetmaker of the Louis XIV period.
French ébénisterie of the Ancien Régime was largely shaped by the hundreds of young and highly skilled cabinetmakers who emigrated to Paris from German-speaking lands, and whose ranks included the Royal cabinetmakers, Jean-François Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener. Although the influx of German craftsmen to the French capital reached its peak in the 1740s, Joseph Baumhauer, generally known as Joseph, was already present, probably having arrived well before 1745, the date of his marriage. He had been granted special status, instead of become maître in the cabinetmakers’ guild, being instead made ébéniste privilégié du Roi around 1749. This special position provided various tax advantages and allowed the practice of multiple trades in one workshop (J.-D. Augarde, 'Joseph Baumhauer, ébéniste privilegié du Roi', L'Estampille-L'Objet d'Art, June 1987, no. 204, pp. 15-16.).
Joseph worked almost exclusively for the marchands-merciers, innovative dealers of art, furniture, natural curiosities and bronzes d'ameublement, whose creations set the taste for Paris’ most fashionable collectors. Joseph worked most notably for some of the finest of this elite merchant group, including Lazare Duvaux, Charles Darnault and Simon-Philippe Poirier, for whom he produced richly-decorated and luxurious pieces incorporating marquetry, lacquer, pietra dura and Sèvres porcelain. He was one of only a few cabinetmakers able to execute masterpieces in various different styles simultaneously: his perfected Rococo forms are evidenced by a graceful desk, that sold from the legendary collection of Djahanguir Riahi, Christie’s, London, 6 December 2012, lot 30 (£1,721,250). By contrast, his iconic bureau plat for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, produced around 1754-1756 and now preserved at château de Chantilly, exhibits the goût grec taste, which arose in direct reaction to the Rococo (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89).
Of the precious materials employed by Joseph on his most luxurious and costly pieces, among the most celebrated is Japanese lacquer, or 'vieux lacq'. French lacquer furniture generally incorporated specimens removed from antique imported Chinese and Japanese coffers and screens, supplied to a cabinetmaker by a marchand-mercier. The art of adapting these components to domestic furniture was one of Joseph's principal specialties. Among his most accomplished Japanese lacquer pieces, conceived at the outset of his career but already fully demonstrating his genius, is a Rococo commode executed circa 1750-1755 for the marchand-mercier François-Charles Darnault, now in collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (obj. no. 55.DA.2).
As mentioned above, and evidenced by the Zilkha commode, Joseph was a master of various styles. Although the invention of this goût grec commode form can be attributed to BVRB, it was Joseph who perfected its proportions by reducing the width of the apron and balancing it with the frieze drawers. A commode of this type by BVRB was recently sold from the Rothschild Collection, Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lot 10 (£1,871,250). Interestingly, BVRB and Joseph collaborated with some of the same marchands-merciers, who undoubtedly exerted great influence on the output of both ébénistes.
JOSÉ MARÍA AND MISIA SERT
Known as the 'Tiepolo of the Ritz’, José María Sert (1874-1945) was born near Barcelona into a textile family, but soon began to focus on his passion for painting. By the turn of the century, he was gaining important commissions for his frescoes and subsequently relocated to Paris. He received further commissions from patrons throughout Europe and in particular England, including Lady Ripon at Coombe Court and Sir Philip Sassoon at Lympne, as well as Sir Saxton Noble at Wretham Hall. In 1924, he received his first commission in the United States, to decorate the music room of Mr. Joshua Cosden in Palm Beach. Sert made use of his entry to America by staging an exhibition at Wildenstein Galleries in New York, which was met with great excitement. As a consequence, he received a number of important commissions, including from Harry Phipps of Pittsburgh in 1925, Benjamin Moore of Long Island in 1926 and his first commission for Mrs. Harrison Williams, for three frescoes for the Tennis Court in her Long Island residence in 1927. In 1930 he was also asked to decorate an entire room at the Waldorf Astoria, and in 1933 to paint murals for much of the entrance hall of the main building at the newly built Rockefeller Center. His work was heavily influenced by Manet, Goya, and Tiepolo.
José married Misia Sert (1872-1950), a Russian-born pianist of Polish descent, in 1914. At the time they were married, Misia was well-known in Parisian social circles thanks to her previous marriages to Tadeusz Natanson and Alfred Edwards. She was friends with some of the most illustrious figures of her time, including Proust, Signac, Renoir, Monet, Redon, Debussy, Gide, and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others. Misia was immortalized in portraits by both Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as Bonnard, whose portrait of Misia in the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection was sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2022, lot 121. Although the couple divorced in 1927, they reconciled during José’s marriage to his second wife, the sculptor Isabelle Roussadana Mdivani (1906-1938), and Misia inherited José’s collection upon his death.
The Serts were veritable trendsetters of their time, and their celebrated collection at ‘Chez Sert’, their apartment at 252 rue de Rivoli in Paris, is described by Alberto del Castillo Yurrita and Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer in their 1947 monograph on José. In the apartment, the present commode was set with girandoles and Chinese antiquities, and stood below a Martyrdom of Saint Maurice by Jorge Manuel Theotokopoulos, son of El Greco, which is preserved today in the Rienzi Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Sert Collection at the rue de Rivoli also included the two magnificent pairs of dragon-form girandoles de cheminée, subsequently in the collection of Antenor Patiño, one of which later belonged to Hubert de Givenchy. The two pairs were sold most recently by Christie's, New York, after having been reunited in the collection of Ann and Gordon Getty, October 20, 2022, lots 10 and 11 ($982,800 and $1,380,000, respectively).
This lot, with its distinctive break-front shape clad in precious Japanese lacquer, belongs to a rare and exclusive group of magnificent commodes, of which only three are known. The first of these is the iconic commode delivered to the marquis de Marigny in 1766, which closely relates to the present lot in its robust ormolu mounts, formed as lion masks, lush swags, and paw feet (D. Alcouffe, et. al., 18th Century: Birth of Design, Dijon, 2014, p. 203., fig. 1). The Zilkha secretaire and the Marigny commode are also both fitted with large-scale voluted ormolu chutes, and, most importantly, are inset with Japanese lacquer panels depicting scenes with near-identical composition.
A second very similar commode by Joseph de Baumhauer is illustrated ibid, p. 202. This commode, although closer to the Marigny example than to the present lot, shares with the Zilkha commode its lacquer-inset frieze drawers, voluted chutes, and acanthus-cast apron mount. As our lot does not feature ormolu feet, lion masks, ribbon-tied garlands and shaped framing mounts to the doors, it can perhaps be seen as a prototype for the these two comparable commodes. Although the present commode is not stamped, its numerous similarities with the above works can help us firmly attribute this lot to Joseph.
As evidenced by the group of three commodes, Joseph was greatly influenced by the oeuvre of André-Charles Boulle. The framing mounts, the veneering at the interiors of the doors, and well as the feet, which are similar to those found on Boulle’s armoires, all illustrate Joseph’s knowledge of the work of the greatest cabinetmaker of the Louis XIV period.
French ébénisterie of the Ancien Régime was largely shaped by the hundreds of young and highly skilled cabinetmakers who emigrated to Paris from German-speaking lands, and whose ranks included the Royal cabinetmakers, Jean-François Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener. Although the influx of German craftsmen to the French capital reached its peak in the 1740s, Joseph Baumhauer, generally known as Joseph, was already present, probably having arrived well before 1745, the date of his marriage. He had been granted special status, instead of become maître in the cabinetmakers’ guild, being instead made ébéniste privilégié du Roi around 1749. This special position provided various tax advantages and allowed the practice of multiple trades in one workshop (J.-D. Augarde, 'Joseph Baumhauer, ébéniste privilegié du Roi', L'Estampille-L'Objet d'Art, June 1987, no. 204, pp. 15-16.).
Joseph worked almost exclusively for the marchands-merciers, innovative dealers of art, furniture, natural curiosities and bronzes d'ameublement, whose creations set the taste for Paris’ most fashionable collectors. Joseph worked most notably for some of the finest of this elite merchant group, including Lazare Duvaux, Charles Darnault and Simon-Philippe Poirier, for whom he produced richly-decorated and luxurious pieces incorporating marquetry, lacquer, pietra dura and Sèvres porcelain. He was one of only a few cabinetmakers able to execute masterpieces in various different styles simultaneously: his perfected Rococo forms are evidenced by a graceful desk, that sold from the legendary collection of Djahanguir Riahi, Christie’s, London, 6 December 2012, lot 30 (£1,721,250). By contrast, his iconic bureau plat for Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully, produced around 1754-1756 and now preserved at château de Chantilly, exhibits the goût grec taste, which arose in direct reaction to the Rococo (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France, London, 1974, figs. 85-89).
Of the precious materials employed by Joseph on his most luxurious and costly pieces, among the most celebrated is Japanese lacquer, or 'vieux lacq'. French lacquer furniture generally incorporated specimens removed from antique imported Chinese and Japanese coffers and screens, supplied to a cabinetmaker by a marchand-mercier. The art of adapting these components to domestic furniture was one of Joseph's principal specialties. Among his most accomplished Japanese lacquer pieces, conceived at the outset of his career but already fully demonstrating his genius, is a Rococo commode executed circa 1750-1755 for the marchand-mercier François-Charles Darnault, now in collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles (obj. no. 55.DA.2).
As mentioned above, and evidenced by the Zilkha commode, Joseph was a master of various styles. Although the invention of this goût grec commode form can be attributed to BVRB, it was Joseph who perfected its proportions by reducing the width of the apron and balancing it with the frieze drawers. A commode of this type by BVRB was recently sold from the Rothschild Collection, Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lot 10 (£1,871,250). Interestingly, BVRB and Joseph collaborated with some of the same marchands-merciers, who undoubtedly exerted great influence on the output of both ébénistes.
JOSÉ MARÍA AND MISIA SERT
Known as the 'Tiepolo of the Ritz’, José María Sert (1874-1945) was born near Barcelona into a textile family, but soon began to focus on his passion for painting. By the turn of the century, he was gaining important commissions for his frescoes and subsequently relocated to Paris. He received further commissions from patrons throughout Europe and in particular England, including Lady Ripon at Coombe Court and Sir Philip Sassoon at Lympne, as well as Sir Saxton Noble at Wretham Hall. In 1924, he received his first commission in the United States, to decorate the music room of Mr. Joshua Cosden in Palm Beach. Sert made use of his entry to America by staging an exhibition at Wildenstein Galleries in New York, which was met with great excitement. As a consequence, he received a number of important commissions, including from Harry Phipps of Pittsburgh in 1925, Benjamin Moore of Long Island in 1926 and his first commission for Mrs. Harrison Williams, for three frescoes for the Tennis Court in her Long Island residence in 1927. In 1930 he was also asked to decorate an entire room at the Waldorf Astoria, and in 1933 to paint murals for much of the entrance hall of the main building at the newly built Rockefeller Center. His work was heavily influenced by Manet, Goya, and Tiepolo.
José married Misia Sert (1872-1950), a Russian-born pianist of Polish descent, in 1914. At the time they were married, Misia was well-known in Parisian social circles thanks to her previous marriages to Tadeusz Natanson and Alfred Edwards. She was friends with some of the most illustrious figures of her time, including Proust, Signac, Renoir, Monet, Redon, Debussy, Gide, and Toulouse-Lautrec, among others. Misia was immortalized in portraits by both Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec, as well as Bonnard, whose portrait of Misia in the Ann and Gordon Getty Collection was sold Christie’s, New York, 21 October 2022, lot 121. Although the couple divorced in 1927, they reconciled during José’s marriage to his second wife, the sculptor Isabelle Roussadana Mdivani (1906-1938), and Misia inherited José’s collection upon his death.
The Serts were veritable trendsetters of their time, and their celebrated collection at ‘Chez Sert’, their apartment at 252 rue de Rivoli in Paris, is described by Alberto del Castillo Yurrita and Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer in their 1947 monograph on José. In the apartment, the present commode was set with girandoles and Chinese antiquities, and stood below a Martyrdom of Saint Maurice by Jorge Manuel Theotokopoulos, son of El Greco, which is preserved today in the Rienzi Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The Sert Collection at the rue de Rivoli also included the two magnificent pairs of dragon-form girandoles de cheminée, subsequently in the collection of Antenor Patiño, one of which later belonged to Hubert de Givenchy. The two pairs were sold most recently by Christie's, New York, after having been reunited in the collection of Ann and Gordon Getty, October 20, 2022, lots 10 and 11 ($982,800 and $1,380,000, respectively).