Régence Style Marquetry Writing Desk

About the Item

A magnificent and very rare Régence style marquetry inlaid grand bureau plat or writing desk. Inscribed to the carcass 'Moreaux 72'. Dating from the second half of the nineteenth century this magnificent and very rare bureau plat has finely cast rocaille gilt-bronze mounts and is decorated overall with truly breath-taking seventeenth century marquetry, depicting fantastical townscapes, knights, soldiers, hunting and architectural-scenes. Of serpentine rectangular form the top is veneered with superb marquetry panels within a foliate scrolled border and a rocaille shell-cast gilt-bronze surround, both sides featuring a recessed central drawer flanked on each side by a drawer applied with male and female terms, scrolled handles, and reserves with conforming drawers; the bombé sides are centred by foliate scrolls, and the whole raised on cabriole legs headed by cartouches with foliate entwined chutes terminating in scrolled sabots. Of impressive scale this fine bureau plat, in the manner of a partners desk, features working drawers to each side. This model of bureau plat was made by a small number of celebrated Parisian cabinet makers in the second half of the 19th century including Beurdeley, Cremer and Befort Jeune. It is incredibly rare to see this model of bureau plat inlaid in marquetry. The exceptional quality and style indicate the use of older reused marquetry, almost certainly dating from the late 17th century and originating from the Augsburg region of Germany. Similar models but lacking the exceptional marquetry inlay can be found in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Bowhill, and the Earl of Normanton at Somerlely. Christopher Payne notes that the latter was part of a pair sold by the London dealer Toms & Luscombe in 1871. He illustrates the present bureau plat in his book ‘European Furniture of the 19th Century’ (p. 88-89), along with two related desks minus the marquetry inlay (p. 92 -93). The exceptional and highly complex marquetry inlay and intarsia work, that sets this important bureau plat apart from other extant examples, would originally have formed the decorative panels of a late 17th century table cabinet, almost certainly ascribable to the Augsburg region of Germany. Augsburg emerged from the middle of the 16th century as the German centre of luxury cabinet making for the international market. In particular, the development of marquetry contributed to this prominent position, favoured by the ready availability of indigenous woods and the reputation that Augsburg had the best craftsmen able to cut thin layers of veneers in the most intricate motifs (C.S. Wood, ‘The Perspective Treatise in Ruins: Lorenz Stöer, Geometria et perspectiva, 1567’, Studies in the History of Art, no. 59, p. 246). Table cabinets, conceived as a form of Wunderkammer or cabinets of curiosities, were intended as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects and by the 1550s the grandest cabinets in Europe were being made in Augsburg. Decorated almost entirely with sumptuous marquetry, often depicting perspective views of ruins and fantastical townscapes, they become by the 1590s highly regarded as important diplomatic gifts. Fine Augsburg marquetry panels remained popular throughout the ages and were frequently re-used to create or embellish new items of furniture, such as this magnificent bureau plat. Their inclusion was not only for their highly decorative appeal, but to contemporary eyes, a means by which to imbue a new creation with a sense of true historical authenticity. The importance of such panels is often reflected in the high cost involved in repurposing them. A fine example of this is the celebrated 17th century cabinet on stand in the collection of the V&A, enlarged and adapted by the London cabinetmakers Morant & Boyd around 1850 (V&A O187250). A further documented example is a chest of drawers probably made in Turin in the middle of the 18th century now at Waddesdon Manor (Geoffrey de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild collection at Waddesdon Manor, Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, no. 119). With its confection of designs and motifs, the marquetry on this important desk reflects a Germanic abstract representation of pictorial form, referencing more the densely populated narratives of Albrecht Dürer, that the trompe l’oeil architectural vistas of the Italian Renaissance and its Euclidean perspective. The epic themes of hunting, knightly exploits and courtly love are inspired by Middle High German literature (1050–1350) such as the Spielmannsdichtung and the Nibelungenlied, with their heroic tales and colourful characters. In keeping with the marquetry and intarsia work of the period, the designs of fantastical townscapes, forests, ruins, knights, hunting, dogs, and curious wild animals would have been inspired by woodcuts and engravings such as: Lorenz Stöer’s ‘Geometria et perspectiva’ (Augsburg, 1567), Jost Amman (1531-1591), or the etchings of Virgil Solis as found in Buchlin von den alten Gebewen (c. 1555). This highly influential book of 11 woodcuts Geometria et perspectiva by Lorenz Stöer, (Augusburg 1597) shows combinations of regular and semi-regular solids in landscapes with fanciful ornamental shapes. The book, which included no text, was subtitled: 'Herein are a few ruined buildings, useful to cabinetmakers working in inlaid wood, and for the special pleasure of many other amateurs, arranged and presented by Lorenz Stoer, painter and citizen of Augsburg'. An interesting Augsburg cabinet in the collection of the V&A Museum, following the box-like form of a Spanish escritorio (writing desk) dates to 1565 and bears the initials of the anonymous master 'HS'. The marquetry decoration with its fantastical ruined townscape, although unpopulated, is reminiscent in style to the marquetry of the present bureau, especially in the filling of the skies with birds. This design derives from the popular engravings of the planets by Vergil Solis of Nuremberg (1514-1562) and of Roman ruins by Hieronymus Cock of Antwerp (about 1510-1570). Such designs were never slavishly copied and often disparate elements from several engravings would be incorporated. In the decoration to this important bureau plat, we can see a distinct layering of perspective and pattern, the intarsia disposing figures and elements within a two-dimensional plane to create an intriguing atmospheric world of myth and legend, of depth emerging out of flatness. Literature Christopher, Payne, European Furniture of the 19th Century, Antique Collectors Club, 2013; pp. 88-89 & 92-93. Christopher S. Wood. The Perspective Treatise in Ruins: Lorenz Stoer, Geometria et perspectiva, 1567.

Dimensions:

Height: 37.41 in (95 cm)Width: 87.8 in (223 cm)Depth: 43.31 in (110 cm)

Style:

Louis XV (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Ormolu,Wood,Marquetry

Place of Origin:

France

Period:

Mid-19th Century

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1850