A Louis XV gilt-bronze mounted kingwood parquetry bureau plat “à têtes de femmes", circa 1732-1736, attributed to Noël Gérard
Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 EUR
Lot Details
Description
opening with three drawers, the central one slightly recessed, each adorned with a large scrolling acanthus leaf, the reverse with dummy drawers, each side featuring a C-scroll cartouche decorated with ova motifs, the mounts adorned with a female head framed by a molded volute of fluting and acanthus leaves, resting on cabriole legs resting in claw feet molded with acanthus leaves, the top covered in black morocco leather, a paper label with the handwritten inscription ‘No. 129’, along with two additional labels inscribed in black ink ‘Monsieur Lion’
Haut. 79 cm, larg. 196 cm, prof. 94 cm ; Height 31 in, width 77 1/8 in, depth 37 in
- Almost certainly acquired by Sir George de Ligne Gregory Esq. for Harlaxton Manor, Lincolnshire in the second quarter of the 19th century and included in the sale of The Gregory Heirlooms consisting of Pictures, Sculpture, Tapestry, Silver-plate, Old French Decorative Furniture of the time of Louis XIII, XIV, XV, and XVI, Rare Marbles, Fine Or-Molu Work, Rock-crystal Chandelier, and other Decorative Objects, Christie's London, 17 June 1878, as lot 95, it was described as:- A FINE LOUIS XV. LIBRARY-TABLE, of rosewood, with three drawers, mounted with terminal female busts, scrolls, and foliage, and border of or-molu, on claw feet, the top covered with leather -6ft. 5in. long, fetching 315 Guineas to 'Annon' (sic.);
- Monsieur Alphonse Lion, Parisian antiquaire, boulevard Haussmann, late 19th-early 20th century;
- Former collection of Hubert de Givenchy, Paris ;
- French & Company, Magnificent French and English Furniture, Christie's, New York, 24 November 1998, lot 30;
- Sotheby’s, London, 4 December 2007, lot 50
Architectural Digest, février 1987, p. 88 (illustrated).
Related literature :
Arch. Nat. : Minutier central, ET CXXI – 306 : valuation after death of Noël Gérard on 17 August 1736.
P. Arizzoli-Clémentel, Versailles, Furniture of the Royal Palace 17th and 18th Centuries, Vol. 2, Dijon, 2002, p. 44-45, no.6, (Inv. V 1595).
C. Hussey, Harlaxton Manor, Linconshire: The Property of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, Country Life, 11 April 1957, p. 704.
A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Revolution, Paris, 1989, pp. 82, 110.