A Louis XVI style silvered metal bed

André Macé, Paris

Whitney Warren, San Francisco

Architectural Digest, May/June 1974, p. 59

With areas of oxidations, rubbing and surface dirt. One thin vertical rod in one headboard now detached and circular finial secured by a screw. In good condition.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The fashion for decorative objects and furniture made of polished steel flourished at the end of eighteenth century. Records of the Garde-Meuble Royal show several commissions awarded to the serruiers, or locksmiths, Courbin, Jubault, Deumier, Tranoi, Perrache, Turquoi and Chaille. This bed is after a model attributed to the royal locksmith Jacques-Antoine Courbin who, between 1784 and 1787, delivered four steel and gilt bronze beds to the Enfants de France. In a 1792 inventory two of Courbin's beds for the Dauphin were described as "pour les garçons de la chambre... deux lits de fer à quatre colonnes à châssis plats de six pieds de long, 6 pieds 6 po de haut et 3 pieds 8 po de large ... prisés a 2422 livres." For a bed of this model, presumably one of the four delivered by Courbin and dated to circa 1784, now in a private collection, see Alain Renner, Mobilier de Métal de l'Ancien Régime à la Restauration, Saint-Remy-en-l'Eau, 2009, p. 80. A steel and gilt bronze bed of this model fitted with a canopy and also attributed to Courbin was sold Sotheby's Monaco, February 26-17, 1992, lot 298.