An important pair of Imperial Russian gilt-bronze mahogany neo-classical drawing room tables possibly by Heinrich Gambs, from Tsarskoe Selo Palace, each with inventory number beneath the drawer udn. 5996 and A.-c.m.N. 1181for Tsarskoselskoe Dvortsovoe Praveline late 18th century

each of kidney shaped form with a gilt-bronze banded top decorated with a ribbon-tied tablet depicting neo-classical scenes flanked by ivy leaves and trophies, with a frieze drawer with a leather inset writing surface on square tapering legs headed by a sunflower above guttae joined by an X-form stretcher centred by a roundel painted with a flowerhead surmounted by a pineapple finial, the whole panelled with gilt-bronze beading , the inventory numbers beneith each drawer with the inscription U.D.N. No. 5996 and A.-C.M. n. 1181 

Catherine II of Russia (1762-1796), Tsarskoe Selo, St. Petersburg
Count Alexandre Stroganoff  (1733-1811), Stroganoff Palace St. Petersburg-see figs. 1 & 2
Stroganoff Collection, Leningrad, sold Rudolf Lepke, Berlin, May 12-13^th, 1931(illustrated)-see fig.3
Baron Alexis de Redé, Hotel Lambert, Paris
Sold as lot 273, Sotheby’s Monaco, 26^th May 1975 (illustrated)from the Baron Redé sale, illustrated in situ in te blue salon at l'hôtel Lambert-see fig.4
Gallery Perrin, Paris

The Stroganoff Provenance:
The Stroganoff family’s fortune was based on their involvement in the salt industry which had started in the 16^th century , which supplied much of Russia and resulted in the family becoming  the wealthiest private citizens in Russia. They contributed to Peter the Great’s vision of making St. Petersburg the equal of the great capital cities of Europe, such as London and Paris. 

Sergei  Grigorievich Stroganoff  (1707-1756) purchased a house on Nevsky Prospect and also a property on the Moika River and in 1752, the recently ennobled, Baron Stroganoff engaged the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Czar’s Winter Palace, to join the two buildings and create two great facades, one on Nevsky Prospect and the other on the Moika and he filled it with Louis XV furniture. It was however, his son, Alexandre (1733-1811), who bought works of art on his father’s instructions and Alexander travelled extensively throughout Italy and Germany during 1752-1757 whilst a student, but his heart was lost to Paris and in 1771, he returned to Paris for an eight year sojourn. He had been fascinated by antiquity since his days as a student and was strongly influenced by the neo-classical style and was its greatest champion.

When he returned to St. Petersburg in 1788, he redeveloped and remodelled in the neo-classical style the family properties and was influenced in this by the great Russian architect and designer Nikiforovich Voronikhin.

In 1931, the Stroganoff collection which had been nationalized, was sent in 1931 by the Soviet Government to Berlin for auction.

 

Comparative Literature:
`Antiques’, February, 2000, Penelope Hunter-Stiebel, `The Stroganoff Collections', pp. 298-304.
Antoine Chenevière, Russian Furniture The Golden Age 1780-1840, London, 1988.

This unusual pair of tables combines perfectly the refined neo-classicism which was so prevalent at the end of the 18th century with the Russian prediliction for the use of unusual materials-such as the aventurine and painted tops-imitating lacquer and Wedgwood medallions. The kidney-shape was very much in vogue in Russia in the late 18th century. Furthermore, the use of mahogany was a precursor for the Russian Jacob style which was more restrained which was embraced with much enthusiasm in Russia in the early 19th century and reflects the Roentgen style with the use of restrained neo-classical mounts such as guttae and flowerheads.  

The quality of execution of these tables together with the use of luxurious materials would seem to lean towards and attributiom towards Heinrich Gambs, together with the similarity to other pieces by him.  See for example various  tables by Gambs with neo-classical scenes illustrated by Chenevière, op. cit, p. 103, ( for a table by Gambs after Roentgen) . Also see the centre table by Gams and Ott illustrated by Chenevière op. cit., p. 104, fig. 85,  in mahogany embellished with verre églomisé and with square tapering legs joined by an x-form stretcher. Gambs mounted his furniture with cameos-see for example the most sumptuous piece ever made by Gambs and his collaborator Ott,  a desk veneerd in ivory made for Paul I's study at Mikhailovsky castle and moved to Pavlovsk in 1804, illustrated by Chenevière op. cit., pp. 108-109, fig. 89.

Heinrich Gambs (1765-1831):

He was of German origin and a former pupil of Roentgen and his early work was very much influenced by his Master whom he sought to surpass in terms of complexity and mechanical devices. In the late 1780’s, he established himself in St. Petersburg and opened a workshop with the Austrian Jonathan Ott in the vicinity of the Kalinkin Bridge and he opened another workshop in the Nevsky Prospekt in 1795. The great majority of his pieces are unsigned.

At the outset of his career he produced many pieces for Pavlovsk Palace. In 1795, together with Ott, he sent a proposal to Catherine the Great offering to furnish the appartments of the Grand Duke Alexander at the new Palace of Tsarskoe Selo, which was accepted and in 1801, he was appointed Court cabinet-maker.

Gambs’ workshop also produced some pieces to designs by the celebrated Russian architect and designer AndreiVoronikhin (1759-1814) who worked  at Pavlovsk after the fire in 1803. He supplied pieces for the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna decorated with verre eglomisé and produced pieces incorporating exotic materials such as amber and ivory. See for example a console table by Gambs circa 1800-10 with a verre eglomisé panel depicting a neo-classical bacchanalian scene reminiscent of the painted scenes on this pair of tables , illustrated by Chenevière, op. cit., p. 153, plate 149 (state Hermitage Museum, inv. No. 5220)

We are indebted to Mr Emanule Duchamp for providing us with the information regarding teh Tsarskoe Selo Provenance.