Classic Design: Furniture, Silver, Ceramics & Clocks

Classic Design: Furniture, Silver, Ceramics & Clocks

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 83. An Empire gilt-bronze mounted mahogany guéridon, early 19th century, attributed to Alexandre Maigret.

An Empire gilt-bronze mounted mahogany guéridon, early 19th century, attributed to Alexandre Maigret

Lot Closed

November 8, 03:23 PM GMT

Estimate

12,000 - 18,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

An Empire gilt-bronze mounted mahogany guéridon, early 19th century, attributed to Alexandre Maigret


with a circular bardiglio forito marble top

80cm. high, 97.5cm. diameter; 2ft. 7½in., 3ft. 2¼in.

Combining sophisticated and proportioned lines with the sleek elegance of the Empire style, the present gueridon celebrating a high-quality mahogany veneer decorated with finely cast bronze mounts is part of a small group of similar luxurious examples most commonly attributed to the French celebrated cabinetmaker Alexandre Maigret. 


This attribution is possible on the basis of two similar gueridon bases stamped by Maigret: one sold in Paris, Cornette de Saint Cyr, 19 January 1988, lot 132, and the second sold at Christie's London, 4 July 1996, lot 231. Though with a six-pointed platform instead of a four-pointed platform base, both stamped guéridons display plain mahogany veneers with gilt-bronze mounts after the same design as the present.

Other examples with similar bases and mounts with stylized leaves are recorded in private collections as attributed to Maigret are recorded as follows:

- Christie's London, 6 July 2006, lot 159 (formerly sold at Christie's New York, Arts of France, 2 November 2000, lot 158),

-Artcurial, Paris, 22 June 2011, lot 307;

-Christie’s, New York, 15 June 2016, lot 385 for $62,500 (formerly sold Christie's, London, 13 June 2002, lot 240), although the shaft is made entirely of gilt bronze.

Another gueridon stamped four times MAIGRET, though lacking a rich gilt-bronze ornamentation was sold from the collection of Lord Barnard at Christie’s, Raby Castle, 10-11 October 1994, lot 127.


Alexandre Maigret appeared as early as 1775-1780 as an upholsterer and cabinetmaker. Established in rue Vivienne, he sold cabinetry, mirrors and bronze objects. Appointed supplier to the Garde-Meuble under the First Empire, he delivered numerous pieces of furniture for the imperial palaces of Fontainebleau, Saint-Cloud, the Tuileries and Trianon. In particular, he delivered embroidery frames for the Empress Marie-Louise. He collaborated with the bronzemakers Feuchère and Fossey, whose style very much demonstrated by the present mounts were much in line with the Empire style and the models published by the architects, interior designers and ornemanistes Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine.

Interestingly, the present model also needs to be brought closer to the furniture pieces by the German cabinetmaker Johannes Klinckerfuss (1770-1831) and his bronze founder Casimir Münch who seemingly were also inspired by the influential designs of Percier and Fontaine. For example, two planters by Klinckerfuss feature a similar base and mounts, although their respective shaft is made entirely of gilt-bronze (see Christie's, Amsterdam, 10-11 December 2003, lot 401 and Sotheby’s, New York, 8 May 2009, lot 191). It should be noted however that the type of marble used for the top of the present gueridon was used extensively during the Empire years by French cabinetmakers, see for example the fireplace in the Emperor's bedroom at the Château de Compiègne, thus suggesting the French origin, rather than German of this gueridon.