French Transition Period Cherrywood Semainier by Pierre Macret, Mid-18th Century

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French Transition Period Cherrywood Semainier by Pierre Macret, Mid-18th Century

About the Item

A lovely French mid-18th century, Transition period circa 1760 in cherrywood opening by seven drawers with lozenge inlays, the pattern repeating on the sides and on the cherrywood top, raised on cabriole legs. Pierre Macret (1727–1796) was a well-known Parisian cabinetmaker. At the death of the widow of Jean-Pierre Latz in December 1756, he received Latz court warrant as marchaud-ébéniste privilegié du Roi suivant de la Cour, ("royally privileged merchant-cabinetmaker following the court"), a brevet that exempted him from the stringent regulations of the Paris guild. In 1758 he was belatedly admitted maître-ébéniste by the guild, which henceforth required him to stamp his production. Numerous pieces bearing Macret's poinçon survive. He retained premises in the fashionable rue Saint-Honoré near the church of Saint-Roch, across from the passage of the Académie de Musique. From 1765 to 1771 he provided furniture ordered by the Menus-Plaisirs: a commode of circa 1770 branded for the Garde-Meuble de la dauphine Marie-Antoinette, is now at Versailles. Macret also worked on occasion for the fashionable marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux, for in the inventory compiled on Duvaux's death in 1758, Macret appears among the creditors: he was owed the considerable sum of 1169 livres. Among his finest works is a slant-front writing-desk in Louis XV style, lacquered red with raised gilded figures in Chinese style, from the Forsythe Wickes collection now at Boston Museum of Fine Arts. On several commodes and corner cabinets (encoignures) dating from the 1760s he employed tôle panels imitating Japanese lacquer. Macret married Jeanne Foulliėre. Though he retired from active practice in 1787, he was still alive in 1796. The Transition Period (1760-1770) formed a bridge between the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. The taste for the antique was propagated by a continuous stream of publications, a whole series of works on ancient Greece and Italy and archaeological studies. It was inevitable that the charming Rococo style had to succumb to such an onslaught. Firstable in 1758 with Ange Laurent de la Live de Jully and the architect Louis Joseph Le Lorrain for a new style furniture command, that you can see today to Chantilly Castle. In 1770 when Madame du Barry gave a reception for the opening of her new Château de Louveciennes, the most exquisite masterpiece of the Louis XVI style, it was apparent that the Louis XV style had become quite out of fashion, at any rate in Paris, before the death of the king whose name had been given to it. Of course furniture did not all in a year assume the new classical decoration and form. There was a time of transition, in this case a decade, when the new principles were being perfected. As always the ornament was first to respond, then the lines and structure. When the transition to Louis XVI was completed, the structural lines were based chiefly on the rectilinear and the curves of the circle and ellipse supplanted the sinuous curves of the Rococo. Straight tapering legs superseded cabriole legs. Much of the grace and beauty were achieved through the perfection of proportions, the faultless balance of all parts, and the harmonious division of the surface into panels and the accuracy of their framing. However, even under Louis XVI some belated pieces, belonging to what is known as the Transition style, had not yet resigned themselves entirely to abandoning their cabriole legs, as may be seen frequently in chairs, commodes, small occasional tables and other delicate tables designed for feminine use. Moreover, all those brilliant and versatile qualities which marked the achievements of Parisian ébénistes under Louis XV were continued under his successor. Little of any importance remained to be discovered in this domain, as we shall see when we consider briefly the work of several great ébénistes. The same woods were used, native and exotic; above all, mahogany enjoyed remarkable favor. Simple mahogany veneers were widely adopted for commodes and the like mounted in gilt bronze. Marble tops continued in fashion and were carefully chosen for color.

Creator:
Pierre Macret (Cabinetmaker)
Dimensions:
Height: 64.18 in (163 cm)Width: 20.87 in (53 cm)Depth: 14.18 in (36 cm)
Style:
Louis XV (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Cherry,Polished
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
Mid-18th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1760-1769
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use.
Seller Location:
Saint Ouen, FR
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU173624448913