A Louis XIV Boulle marquetry bureau Mazarin, circa 1700

Galerie Koller, 23 October 1980, lot 1610;

Koller Zurich, 4 December 2007, lot 1090.

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Galerie Koller, 23 octobre 1980, lot 1610;

Koller Zurich, 4 décembre 2007, lot 1090.

P. Grand, 'Le Mobilier Boulle et les ateliers de l'époque', L'Estampille/ L'Objet d'Art, February, 1993, pp. 48-70.

Seymour de Ricci, Louis XIV and Régence, Germany,1929, plates 125, 127,129.

Jean Néré Ronfort, André-Charles Boulle,1642-1732, Un nouveau style pour l'Europe, Paris, 2009, p.170, fig. 5 and pp. 294-295, fig. 45.

This finely inlaid bureau Mazarin decorated with Berainesque motifs, on eight s-scrolled legs, closely relates to a group of Boulle bureaux Mazarin either stamped by or attributed to Nicolas Sageot (1666-1731). It is quite typical in form with three drawers flanking a kneehole on eight s-scrolled legs joined by x-form stretchers and containing two recessed drawers, although the offered example has three drawers in the kneehole. A number of Parisien ébénistes made this type of bureau, however, Nicolas Sageot had a particular talent for them and he was inspired by the engravings of Jean Berain, which were widely disseminated and his marquetry often had variations in the details especially on the tops.

See for example, a bureau Mazarin stamped by Sageot, illustrated by Ronfort op. cit., p. 295, although it has two drawers, straight legs and pierced x-form stretchers, it is conceived in a similar vein to the present example. 

There is a related bureau Mazarin attributed to Sageot on eight legs formerly in the Roudanovski collection, now in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, illustrated by Ronfort, op. cit., p. 170, figs. 4 & 5, which is identical to the one stamped Sageot in the Royal Swedish Collection. All of these feature the same s-scroll legs joined by x-form stretchers (generally pierced) and decorated with marquetry with Berainesque motifs.

The bureau Mazarin in the Victoria and Albert Museum illustrated by Ricci, op. cit. p. 127, is attributed to Bernard I Vanrisamburgh (d.1738) and also makes an interesting comparison. Furthermore, there was a fine example formerly in the collection of Queen Victoria which then passed to Princess Alice Mary, Countess of Athlone, subsequently gifted to Duke Carl Eduard von Coburg that was offered in these Rooms, 12th December 2001, lot 33. It too features the same s-scroll legs and Bérainsesque motifs to the top.

Two related examples of bureaux Mazarin with similar legs and decoration were sold on behalf of the Executors of the 6th Earl of Rosebery and his family, Mentmore, Buckinghamshire, Vol. I, 19th May 1977 lots 494 and 512, and another in these Rooms, 16th June 1989, lot 4. An unattributed bureau mazarin of similar form, with stylised shells, vases of flowers and a baldachino conceived in a similar vein was sold Sotheby's, Paris, 18th June 2002, lot 23 (52,000E). Stylised shell motifs, flower-filled vases and swagged baldachinos can be seen on a related bureau mazarin attributed to Sageot, with x-form stretchers as on the offered bureau, but with a fall-front in the kneehole, which was sold Christie's, New York, 19th October 2007, lot 227 ($85,000).Also see another bureau with similar legs and stretcher and configuration of three drawers in the kneehole, sold lot 24, in these Rooms, 2nd December, 2008 (£40,000). 

Nicolas Sageot (1666-1731), received Master 1706

He was born in Samaize-les Bains and appears to have become active around 1690 and is first recorded as working in Grande rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine in 1698 where, before being accepted by the cabinet-makers guild, he had worked as an ouvrier libre. He married, in 1711, Marie Brigitte Roussel, the daughter of the ébéniste Jacques Roussel and his workshop appeared to prosper until around 1720, when he stopped working and sold his stock. His production seems to have principally consisted of important armoires, commodes and bureaux. He entered into a commercial arrangement with Léonard Prieur, `Marchand Mercier Grossier joaillier Priviligié suivant la Cour', on 26th July 1720. As a result of this, he sold furniture and various materials to him for 16000 livres; the armoires, priced from 400 to 1000 livres were the most expensive pieces (see Grand op. cit.,).  Upon the death of his wife, in 1729, the inventory of their workshop records an important stock of brass and tortoiseshell.       

Other marqueteurs working for Sageot

The marqueteur Toussaint Devoye was a friend of Sageot's and the two men also had a business relationship. Toussaint probably supplied Sageot with marquetry but also supplied another cabinet-maker, Pierre Moulin, who was also connected with Sageot. Moulin had purchased part of Sageot's inventory in 1720, consisting of a stock of wood when Sageot retired. Moulin was in partnership in this transaction with his brother-in-law Claude-François Mainguet. Moulin had seven workshops at the time of his death and had enjoyed a thriving business specialising in brass and tortoiseshell marquetry and his success stemmed in part from his connection to Noël Gérard, his brother-in-law, whose work is similar in some respects to that of Sageot.

Jean Bérain (1637-1711)

The influence of Jean Bérain (1637-1711) is evidenced through the whimsical and fluid designs inlaid over most of the offered lot. Bérain's work is legendary and he was one of the pivotal figures in the creation of the Louis XIV style. There is a lightness of touch and attention to minute detail in his work which may come from the very start of his career when he produced designs for the metal components on small arms and locks. His printed designs have a theatricality which is perhaps derived from 1674 when he was Architecte Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi in this role he produced designs for festivals, ballets and other festive diversions. Bérain's work was widely disseminated and on the year of his death in 1711, a collection of his engraved designs was published in Paris, Oeuvre de Jean Bérain, Recueillies par les Soins du Sieur Thuret. Apart from set design and engraved metal work, his influence can be seen in architecture, works of art, ceramics and tapestries from the Beauvais manufactory.