A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, SYCAMORE AND BOXWOOD PARQUETRY TABLE À ÉCRIRE BY ROGER VANDERCRUSE, CALLED LACROIX, CIRCA 1780

Of Netherlandish origin, Roger Vandercruse or Lacroix hailed from a family of cabinetmakers based in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and was the brother-in-law of Jean-François Oeben, Simon Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener. He took over his father's workshop in 1755 and quickly became one of the most prolific Parisian ébénistes of the Transition and Louis XVI periods, working with marchand-merciers like Simon-Philippe Poirier and Daguerre and supplying the royal Garde-Meuble through the ébéniste du Roi Gilles Joubert. Lacroix was also a pioneer in the use of citronnier (satinwood), sycamore, holly and boxwood as primary veneers, anticipating the trend for bois clairs by nearly 40 years, and specialised in small tables with trellis parquetry as seen on the present lot. This distinctive decoration of quatrefoil rosettes in a diagonal grid is also seen on the work of his contemporaries Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer (maître 1771) and Godefroy Dester (maître 1774), suggesting the cabinetmakers may have subcontracted work among themslves, or sourced the same veneers from a specialist marqueteur. An almost identical writing table by Dester is illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'art et la manière des maîtres ébénistes français au XVIIIe siècle (Paris 1976), p.149 fig. B, and the same maker produced several square tables en chiffonnière with the same trellis parquetry and bellflower inlay on the legs, including examples in the Frick Collection and Musée Cognacq-Jay, Paris and one illustrated in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution (London 1992), p.331 fig. 383.