A LOUIS PHILIPPE ORMOLU-MOUNTED, PIETRA DURA AND EBONY MEUBLE A HAUTEUR D'APPUI THE CABINET
Details
The rectangular top above an egg and dart cornice over a pierced foliate frieze, the door inset with nine pietra dura panels with lapis borders, seven after designs by Jacques Callot, two Florentine 18th century plaques depicting a lady and gentleman in fashionable dress, opening to reveal an interior fitted with one shelf, flanked by lapis lazuli pilasters on a base with foliate moulding above a waved apron centred by a mask on square feet embellished with rosettes, the sides centred by male masks 441⁄2 in. (113 cm.); 411⁄4 in. (104.5 cm.); 201⁄2 in. (52 cm.) deep
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Delorme & Collin Du Bocage, Paris, 5 August 2011, lot 64.
Lot Essay
This impressive and glamorous cabinet reflects the enduring appreciation for pietra dura into the 19th century and the evolving use of it in furniture by the great cabinetmakers of the relevant periods. With its finely chased ormolu mounts, 17th century plaques and long strips of costly lapis lazuli, the cabinet is clearly by a Parisian maker of the best calibre.
This cabinet relates very closely, with similar choice of plaques and construction and identical cornice mounts, to a cabinet attributed to Alexandre Bellangé, sold Jacques Garcia, Intemporel; Sotheby's, Paris, 16 May 2023, lot 69 (€44,450). The Bellangé dynasty of ébénistes, active from the final years of the Ancien Régime to the mid-19th century, occupies a distinguished place within the historicist tradition of French decorative arts. Among its most celebrated exponents were Louis-François Bellangé (1759–1827) and his son Alexandre-Louis, whose inventive creations reflect a singular approach to the revival of earlier styles. From the reign of Louis XVIII onwards, Louis-François Bellangé developed a particular predilection for the incorporation of historic decorative elements into his furniture, at times reusing materials dating from previous centuries. Unlike the continuation of an established taste, exemplified by Bernard Molitor, who was already producing furniture incorporating hardstones under Louis XVI, Bellangé's approach was characterised by a deliberate reimagining of 18th-century forms and ornament. To this end, the Bellangé workshop reclaimed and repurposed antique pietra dura plaques, incorporating them into new compositions. The plaques intended for the present piece derive from the celebrated Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Florentine grand-ducal manufactory founded in 1588 under Ferdinando I de' Medici. The distinctive pietra dura compositions are inspired by the engravings of Jacques Callot (1592–1635), whose celebrated series of Gobbi, published in 1622, depicts a troupe of grotesque dwarfs who performed for the Medici court during the artist's sojourn in Florence. Their comic songs and dances represented a novel form of courtly entertainment in 17th-century Italy. Born in Nancy, Callot established his reputation in Florence under the patronage of the Medici before returning to Lorraine in 1621, following the death of Cosimo II de' Medici. Renowned for his extraordinary powers of observation, he captured both the grotesque and the exuberant aspects of contemporary life. The Gobbi proved particularly influential, inspiring numerous adaptations throughout Europe, including 19th-century French ceramics. A related series is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. S.1015-1996). The unusual panels of the present piece may further be compared with two panels on a cabinet signed Bellangé and dated circa 1815–1818, now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (illustrated in S. Cordier, Bellangé, ébénistes, Une histoire du goût au XIXe siècle, Paris, 2012, pp. 581–583, LFB 2).
Read more
Details
The rectangular top above an egg and dart cornice over a pierced foliate frieze, the door inset with nine pietra dura panels with lapis borders, seven after designs by Jacques Callot, two Florentine 18th century plaques depicting a lady and gentleman in fashionable dress, opening to reveal an interior fitted with one shelf, flanked by lapis lazuli pilasters on a base with foliate moulding above a waved apron centred by a mask on square feet embellished with rosettes, the sides centred by male masks 441⁄2 in. (113 cm.); 411⁄4 in. (104.5 cm.); 201⁄2 in. (52 cm.) deep
Provenance
Anonymous sale; Delorme & Collin Du Bocage, Paris, 5 August 2011, lot 64.
Lot Essay
This impressive and glamorous cabinet reflects the enduring appreciation for pietra dura into the 19th century and the evolving use of it in furniture by the great cabinetmakers of the relevant periods. With its finely chased ormolu mounts, 17th century plaques and long strips of costly lapis lazuli, the cabinet is clearly by a Parisian maker of the best calibre.
This cabinet relates very closely, with similar choice of plaques and construction and identical cornice mounts, to a cabinet attributed to Alexandre Bellangé, sold Jacques Garcia, Intemporel; Sotheby's, Paris, 16 May 2023, lot 69 (€44,450). The Bellangé dynasty of ébénistes, active from the final years of the Ancien Régime to the mid-19th century, occupies a distinguished place within the historicist tradition of French decorative arts. Among its most celebrated exponents were Louis-François Bellangé (1759–1827) and his son Alexandre-Louis, whose inventive creations reflect a singular approach to the revival of earlier styles. From the reign of Louis XVIII onwards, Louis-François Bellangé developed a particular predilection for the incorporation of historic decorative elements into his furniture, at times reusing materials dating from previous centuries. Unlike the continuation of an established taste, exemplified by Bernard Molitor, who was already producing furniture incorporating hardstones under Louis XVI, Bellangé's approach was characterised by a deliberate reimagining of 18th-century forms and ornament. To this end, the Bellangé workshop reclaimed and repurposed antique pietra dura plaques, incorporating them into new compositions. The plaques intended for the present piece derive from the celebrated Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Florentine grand-ducal manufactory founded in 1588 under Ferdinando I de' Medici. The distinctive pietra dura compositions are inspired by the engravings of Jacques Callot (1592–1635), whose celebrated series of Gobbi, published in 1622, depicts a troupe of grotesque dwarfs who performed for the Medici court during the artist's sojourn in Florence. Their comic songs and dances represented a novel form of courtly entertainment in 17th-century Italy. Born in Nancy, Callot established his reputation in Florence under the patronage of the Medici before returning to Lorraine in 1621, following the death of Cosimo II de' Medici. Renowned for his extraordinary powers of observation, he captured both the grotesque and the exuberant aspects of contemporary life. The Gobbi proved particularly influential, inspiring numerous adaptations throughout Europe, including 19th-century French ceramics. A related series is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. S.1015-1996). The unusual panels of the present piece may further be compared with two panels on a cabinet signed Bellangé and dated circa 1815–1818, now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle (illustrated in S. Cordier, Bellangé, ébénistes, Une histoire du goût au XIXe siècle, Paris, 2012, pp. 581–583, LFB 2).
Read more
