A late Louis XV gilt-bronze mounted amaranth and tulipwood veneered bureau plat, circa 1770, stamped by Philippe-Claude Montigny

Galerie Maurice Segoura, Paris;

Christie's, New York, 17-18 May 2005, lot 420

Philippe-Claude Montigny, cabinetmaker, received master in 1766

This model of desk, stamped either Dubois or Montigny, illustrates the emergence of the 'à la grecque' taste in the decorative arts around 1755. Larger versions are known (with widths ranging from 115 to 130 cm). A copy was delivered in 1765 by Poirier for the Earl of Coventry (see A. Pradère, Les achats parisiens de mobilier du comte de Coventry, L'Estampille, l'objet d'art, June 1996, pp. 46-53), its width was 146 cm. The model may be dated to before 1763, the year when a 'un bureau de 4 pieds et demi de bois verni, fait à la grecque' ("a varnished wood desk in the Greek taste") appears in the inventory taken after the death of Jacques Dubois. Regarding Philippe Montigny, one might reasonably assume subcontracting arrangements between him, Dubois and the marchand-mercier Poirier.