An Important Classical Ormolu-Mounted and Figured Mahogany Marble-Topped Pier Table, Labeled and Stamped by Charles-Honoré Lannuier, New York, circa 1818

F. O. Bailey Antiquarians, Portland, Maine, July 10, 1986, lot 56.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Honoré Lannuier, Parisian Cabinetmaker in Federal New York, March 17-June 14, 1998.

Peter Kenny, Frances Bretter, and Ulrich Leben, Honoré Lannuier, Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of a French Ébeniste in Federal New York, (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998), cat. 101, p. 218.

Secondary woods are white pine and poplar, refinished, mirror plate either re-silvered or replaced.
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.

Displaying two cheval glass bilingual labels and four stamps, this table was made by Charles-Honoré Lannuier during the second half of his career, in the "American Empire" style or later phase of le gout antique. It was included in the exhibition Honoré Lannuier, Parisian Cabinetmaker in Federal New York held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1998 and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, Honoré Lannuier, Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of a French Ébeniste in Federal New Yorkby Peter Kenny, Frances Bretter and Ulrich Leben.

This pier table represents one of Lannuier's signature forms, which comprise over 20% of his known oeuvre. The form was listed for the first time in an undated list of additional revised prices for the 1810 edition of the New York cabinetmakers' price book as a "Square Pier Table – Three feet long, one foot six inches wide ... to stand on a framed plinth of hard wood, with two braces across ditto; plain turned columns in front ... square pillars at back framed with tenons."  Variations in size amongst extant examples indicates that a majority of tables of this type were custom ordered.¹

With its larger gilded cast-brass ornaments, plinth with rounded front corners, and heavy lion's-paw feet, the present example is a later expression of Lannuier's pier table form. A cast brass trophy centered on the skirt depicts the implements of war and bears the initials, CA, of its unidentified brass founder. The two engraved labels affixed to this table represent the third and final label that Lannuier used during his career, from circa 1812 to the end of his life in 1819. Depicting a cheval glass with the great seal of the United States on the pediment above a looking glass advertising his business on Broad Street in French and English, the label is among the most elaborate known on American furniture. He also marked this pier table with his estampille, H. LANNUIER/NEW-YORK, a holdover from French cabinetmaking that served as proof of his rigorous training, fine workmanship, and use of best materials.

Three other pier tables of comparable form and decoration also bearing Lannuier's cheval glass label include the Stuyvesant family example in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one in the Cluett collection, and one in a private collection.²  Another attributed to Lannuier also included in the exhibition of his work and accompanying catalogue is in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart P. Feld.³

¹ Peter Kenny, Frances Bretter, and Ulrich Leben, Honoré Lannuier, Cabinetmaker from Paris: The Life and Work of a French Ébeniste in Federal New York, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998, pp. 81-2.
² See ibid, pl. 24, p. 61, pl. 42, p. 92, and nos. 99-100 and103, pp. 217-9. See also Elizabeth Feld and Stuart Feld, Of the Newest Fashion: Masterpieces of American Neo-Clasical Decorative Arts, New York, 2002, pp. 42-3.
³ See Kenny, et al, pl. 21, p. 55.