A highly important German gilt-bronze-mounted palissander and parquetry bureau plat, Dresden, possibly by the workshop of Michael Kimmel, circa 1760

the serpentine three-quarter galleried inset leather top within a moulded gilt-bronze border above a serpentine frieze with two drawers flanked by two further drawers opposing dummy drawers all veneered with palissander lozenge-shaped trellis parquetry within gilt-bronze banding, the sides with lozenge parquetry within gilt-bronze borders of C-scrolls and flowerheads, on four cabriole legs mounted with ormolu chutes and cabochon sabots

Bensimon, Inc., New York;
Collection of Georges Lurcy, sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, November 8th-9th 1957, lot 374.
Anonymous sale, Ader Picard, Paris, 10th June 1970.
Property of the Collections of Lily & Edmond J. Safra, Sotheby's New York, November 4th 2005, lot 588.

This fantastic bureau is in very good conserved condition, and is ready to be placed. There are minor repairs to veneers, as expected, and the gilt bronze to the gallery top is worn. The tooled leather is of later date, but it has an attractive colour and patina, showing minor marks and scratches consistent with age and use. The bottom of the main body has been reinforced with blocks, and there is a repaired shrinking split. The carcass shows marks of old woodworm which seems to be no longer active. Please note that this lot contains an endangered wood species, rosewood. The bronzes are in very good condition with an attractive gold tone. A piece of exceptional quality and rarity.
"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:
Rudolf von Arps-Aubert, Sächsisches Barockmöbel 1700-1770, Berlin,1939, p. 27, n. 3.
Prinz Henning, ‘De Raumgestaltung des Taschenbergpalais zur Zeit Friedrich Christians und Maria Antonias’, Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsmmlungen Dresden 1986 (I), p. 141-62.
Christopher Wilk, ed., Western Furniture 1350 to the Present Day in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1996, p. 98-99.
Gisela Haase, Dresdener Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts, Leipzig, 1983, cat. no. 55, fig. 123.
Gisela Haase, ‘Dresdener Möbel – Kimmel oder Leuchte?’ Antiquitätenzeitung 30. Jg. 2002/1.

This sumptuous writing table was manufactured for a courtly or high-ranking patron by one of the leading workshops of mid 18^th century Dresden, as evidenced by the use of expensive tropical rather than native woods, the lozenge trellis parquetry veneer and overall form influenced directly by Parisian furniture designs and the exceptional quality of the gilt-bronze mounts.

The majority of 18^th century Dresden furniture produced outside of court circles was made in walnut either unmounted or with brass rather than gilt-bronze mounts, and often as much inspired by English as by French furniture designs. Gilt-bronze-mounted bureaux plats in exotic woods inspired by French designs are known to have been in the collection of the court minister Count Brühl at Schloss Pförten, see Arps-Aubert, op. cit., p. 27, n. 3 and the Saxon Crown Prince Friedrich Christian and his wife Maria Antonia in the Taschenbergpalais in Dresden, see Henning op. cit., p. 141-62. The paucity of surviving documentation, however, makes it difficult to definitively ascertain the authorship of the former and the present desk. The most plausible candidate is Michael Kimmel (1715-94), court cabinetmaker to Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of Saxony (1696-1763), who succeeded his father Augustus the Strong in 1733. 

The same pattern of trellis parquetry and superlative quality and design of the gilt-bronze mounts is found both on the celebrated kingwood bureau cabinet bearing the carved cipher of Augustus III, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, see Wilk, op. cit., p. 98-99 as well as on a pair of palissander two-door commodes formerly at Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden, Kunstgewerbemuseum, see Haase, op. cit., cat. no.55, fig. 123, both of which have been attributed to Kimmel. Another possible attribution is to the Dresden Stadttischler Johann Gottfried Leuchte (died 1759), who is also known to have supplied pieces to the Saxon Court, see Haase, op. cit..

In the twentieth century this desk formed part of the celebrated collection of the French-born New York banker and philanthropist Georges Lurcy (1891-1953), who fled France in 1940 and assembled an impressive collection of 18^thcentury French and European furniture, porcelain and decorative arts and Impressionist paintings in his Manhattan residence, including major works by Monet, Renoir and Gauguin. After Lurcy’s death, the desk along with the rest of his collection was sold at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 7th-9th November 1957 (lot 374, catalogued as French), in one of the art market’s most important events of the decade, see ‘The Greatest Auction’, Time, 18 November 1957. It was the first sale in the U.S. where lots were projected on television screens in the room, and among the successful bidders were members of the Rockefeller, Ford and Goulandris families.             

A related Dresden bureau plat of the usual form, in bois satiné and kingwood parquetry with rich gilt-bronze rococo mounts was sold in these Rooms, 15th December 1999, lot 46.              

We are grateful to Dr Gisela Haase for her assistance in researching this desk.