A gilt-bronze-mounted amaranth, tulipwood and parquetry bureau plat stamped Montigny JME twice Louis XVI, circa 1775

with a gilt-bronze banded tooled leather top above a pull-out tooled leather writing slide on each side above three frieze drawers opposing dummy drawers mounted with a gilt-bronze border with stylised Greek key motif and laurel leaf escutcheons within a further band of ribbon-tied reeds with similarly inlaid sides, each stile with a projecting block applied with a gilt-bronze patera each side with an acanthus leaf cast mount on square tapering legs applied with berried laurel swags on gilt-bronze sabots, the inside of the central drawer with two ink inscribed labels one with the number 10611 the other with 469,1103222

Mandl Collection, Paris, Drouot 25th February 1904, lot 23 and Drouot 9th February 1905, lot 23, where bought by Ducrey;
Private European Collection

Seymour de Ricci, Louis XVI Furniture, Stuttgart 1913, p.109, illustrated;
Comte Francois de Salverte, Les ébénistes du XVIII° siècle, Paris 1975, plate XLIV, illustrated.

In overall good conserved condition.Very good casting to gilt-bronze mounts which is slightly dirty and would benefit from a light clean according to taste. There are some old miniscule restorations to the veneer especially to the central frieze drawer, but these have been well executed and are hardly noticeable. There is a pin missing above the eschuchon on the front left drawer but this can easily be replaced. There is some evidence of previous fixings inside the carcass and there is a latter rectangular inset piece of wood where the lock on the right drawer enters the carcass. There is also evidence of recent glue repair where the top joins the frieze at the back. There are some old water stains, pitting and marks to the leather top commensurate with age and normal usage.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Alexandre Pradère, French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ebéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, Tours, 1989, p. 306, fig. 344.

This extremely elegant bureau plat, with its distinguished, restrained lines and interlaced Greek-key frieze, reflects the goût grec style so typical of the taste for understated neo-classicism of the 1760's and 1770's. The goût grec style was introduced in the 1750's by the architect Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain. Probably working in collaboration with a marchand-mercier such as Simon-Philippe Poirier, Le Lorrain's goût grec style was first realized in the designs for the celebrated suite of furniture supplied for the Parisian hotel of the amateur Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully circa 1755, which included the bureau plat and cartonnier now in the musée Condé at Chantilly. Within a few years, this bold manner had gained wide popularity, and in 1763 Baron de Grimm was writing in Paris: 'tout se fait aujourd'hui la grècque' (ibid. p. 264).

This bureau plat forms part of the well-documented group of bureaux à la Grecque stamped by the ébénistes Montigny and Dubois. Executed in either amaranth and tulipwood or in ebony, often displaying the same distinctive ormolu mounts and of very similar proportions and design, this group reflects the close collaboration of these two celebrated ébénistes. The two were cousins and their combined stamps are found on furniture at Waddesdon Manor and at the Wallace Collection.

The most unusual features of this particularly well-structured bureau are the large central frieze drawer creating a kneehole and the laurel leaf drapery swags on the legs which are a variation on the usual fronts and drapery angle mounts which are normally found on bureaux of this type. It is also larger than most of the other comparable examples.

Related bureaux plats by Montigny:
- a related bureau plat with similar marquetry and virtually identical mounts is in the Musée Cognacq-Jay in Paris (inv. no. J361) and reproduced here in fig. 1.
- a bureau plat with different frieze and leg mounts stamped Montigny (Private Collection), is illustrated by Pradère, op. cit. p. 306, fig. 344.
- two others both smaller and attributed to Montigny, sold at Sotheby's, Monaco; one on 26th February 1992, lot 221 (2,109,000FF), the other 12th December 1998, lot 36, (1,100,000FF), also with different frieze and leg mounts to those on the present bureau.
- a bureau plat described as in the manner of Montigny, smaller, with different marquetry, frieze and leg mounts, was sold as lot 34, from the Karl Lagerfeld Collection, Christie's, Monaco, 28th-29th April 2000 (1,467,500 FF).
- a bureau plat stamped Montigny, with similar marquetry, but slightly different mounts on the frieze and legs, was sold as lot 266, Christie's, New York, 2nd November 2000 ($215,000).
- a smaller bureau plat stamped Montigny, with different marquetry, frieze and leg mounts, was sold as lot 80, Sotheby's, Paris, 23rd June 2004 (254,400 euros).
- a similar bureau stamped Montigny, without the distinctive gilt-bronze borders of the present desk but otherwise virtually identical frieze mounts was sold as lot 160, Sotheby's, Paris, 10th November 2009 (204,750 euros), see fig. 2.

Philippe-Claude Montigny (1734-1800):
Montigny was born in Paris, the son of Louis Montigny an ébéniste in the rue Faubourg Saint-Antoine. He received master in 1766 and took over his father's workshop in the Cour de la Juiverie where he was to remain for the rest of his life.