- 68
A PAIR OF GILT BRONZE-MOUNTED EBONY, BRASS AND TORTOISESHELL INLAID BOULLE MARQUETRY COMMODES, FROM A SUITE OF FOUR BY BLAKE AND CO. OF LONDON, CIRCA 1853, AFTER THE MODEL BY ANDRÉ-CHARLES BOULLE, NOW IN THE CHÂTEAU DE VERSAILLES |
估價
0 - 0 USD
招標截止
描述
- H. 34 1/2 in., W. 49 in., D. 25 1/2 in.; 87.6 cm., 124.5 cm., 64.8 cm
Asking Price: $950,000each with a bevelled levanto rosso marble top above a pair of concave and convex drawers, front and sides inlaid in première partie boulle marquetry, the back inlaid in contre partie, the handle of each top drawer cast with the maker's name Blake, some mounts with the letter P, the mounts marked A followed by Roman numerals for one commode, the others marked B.
來源
Possibly Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford; Possibly by descent to Sir Richard Wallace, 1870, then to Lady Wallace, 1890; by whom
Bequeathed to Sir John Murray Scott 1897; by whom bequeathed to Victoria Sackville-West, 1912;
Sold to Jacques Seligmann, Paris;
London, Sotheby's, 2 November 1990, lot 231;
New York, Christie's, 26 October 2010, lot 369;
New York, Sotheby's, 15 October 2015, lot 30.
Bequeathed to Sir John Murray Scott 1897; by whom bequeathed to Victoria Sackville-West, 1912;
Sold to Jacques Seligmann, Paris;
London, Sotheby's, 2 November 1990, lot 231;
New York, Christie's, 26 October 2010, lot 369;
New York, Sotheby's, 15 October 2015, lot 30.
出版
A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris 1989, p. 72;
T. Dell, Furniture in The Frick Collection, New York 1992, pp. 233-46 (for the companion pair);
Petworth House, West Sussex, The National Trust (ed.), 1997, p. 30 (for the record of a single commode by Boulle in the 'carved Room');
D. Meyer, Versailles Furniture of the Royal Palace, vol. I, 2002, pp. 542-57; D.O. Kisluk-Grosheide, W. Koeppe and W. Rieder, European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2006, p. 85, reproduced pl. 31;
André-Charles Boulle 1642-1732, Un Nouveau Style pour l' Europe, exh. cat., Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, October 2009 - January 2010, p. 76 and 147.
T. Dell, Furniture in The Frick Collection, New York 1992, pp. 233-46 (for the companion pair);
Petworth House, West Sussex, The National Trust (ed.), 1997, p. 30 (for the record of a single commode by Boulle in the 'carved Room');
D. Meyer, Versailles Furniture of the Royal Palace, vol. I, 2002, pp. 542-57; D.O. Kisluk-Grosheide, W. Koeppe and W. Rieder, European Furniture in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2006, p. 85, reproduced pl. 31;
André-Charles Boulle 1642-1732, Un Nouveau Style pour l' Europe, exh. cat., Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt, October 2009 - January 2010, p. 76 and 147.
拍品資料及來源
This pair of commodes is from a suite of four commodes, most likely commissioned by the 4th Marquess of Hertford. As a group, these opulent pairs of meticulously inlaid commodes represent the highest quality work produced by the firm Blake of London. The companion pair to the present examples is now in the Frick Collection, New York and are marked C and D to their mounts, while the commodes in this pair are marked A and B. THE COMMISSION BY THE 4TH MARQUESS OF HERTFORD
This group of four commodes was possibly commissioned by the 4th Marquess of Hertford, Richard Seymour-Conway (1800-1870). Lord Hertford was an avid collector of eighteenth-century furniture, which now forms the basis of the Wallace Collection, but like many collectors of his day he also demonstrated equal zeal in buying nineteenth-century recreations of older works. The nineteenth-century versions were actually often more expensive than the originals because of the cost of high-quality labour and materials. In 1853, the Duke of Hamilton and other collectors of eighteenth-century furniture lent their pieces to the Gore House exhibition in London. The Duke of Hamilton sent a commode by André-Charles Boulle, which is now at Petworth House, Sussex. The Petworth commode is one of several of this model produced in the eighteenth century. The design, probably conceived of by Gilles-Marie Oppenord, was originally executed by Boulle in 1708-09 for a pair of commodes for Louis XIV at the Grand Trianon. The success of the model led to further commissions, and at least five other examples by Boulle are accounted for in eighteenth-century auction catalogues. One of these is now in the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The keen interest in the model’s complex structure and its unique juxtaposition of convex and concave drawers did not abate but continued into the nineteenth century, as evidenced by the sustained demand for reproductions.
Lord Hertford was among the commode’s many admirers after his visit to the Specimens of Cabinet Work exhibition at Gore House. Inspired to acquire his own version of the Duke’s Boulle commode, he obtained permission to copy it. On 11 June 1853, the 4th Marquess wrote to Samuel Moses Mawson, a London dealer, saying, 'You might do me a great service & oblige me very much. You know there is at present an exhibition of works of art at Gore House. I should very much like to have drawings made of some of the principal & the most beautiful articles of furniture not of the middle ages but of Louis XIV, XV & XVI…'. After expending the effort to obtain drawings, Lord Hertford realised that the cabinetmakers could not produce copies from drawings alone and had to rethink his commission process. After revising his plan, he contacted John Webb, a cabinetmaker listed on Old Bond Street and an organizer of the Gore House exhibition. Webb most likely subcontracted much of the work to other cabinetmakers, and in particular to Henry Blake. The original mounts were likely copied using the most expensive and time-consuming processes available to nineteenth-century bronziers in order to produce mounts of identical size and quality. To achieve this, the bronzier must have created either a squeeze or a wood model of the original and adapted it to accommodate for shrinkage. It is important to note that there are a few slight modifications from the original mounts - the copies feature slightly shorter bail handles and foliated cups on the bottom of the helical feet. While some have argued this indicates that Hertford did not copy from the Hamilton commode but rather from another now-lost example, it has also been suggested that the bronzier made slight adaptations while copying. The other mounts, which have been previously removed and directly compared to the ones on the Hamilton commode now at Petworth, are identical in detail.
LORD HERTFORD'S LEGACY
Lord Hertford is documented owning three of these commodes, and this is not unusual as he was generally known to have multiple examples of pieces he admired. After Lord Hertford’s death in 1870, his son Sir Richard Wallace inherited his father's collection, the apartment in the rue Laffitte, the chateau of Bagatelle, and the estates in Ireland. He soon also bought the lease of Hertford House. Upon Sir Richard Wallace’s death in 1890, the estate and its property were bequeathed to his wife Lady Wallace. Lady Wallace left the Hertford House to England, while her other properties were bequeathed to her secretary and principal advisor, Sir John Murray Scott. In turn, Sir John Murray Scott sold Bagatelle in 1900 and left the rue Laffitte apartment and a large sum of money to his friend Victoria Sackville-West upon his death in 1912. It appears that the commodes are documented again at this point in the Paris probate valuation of 2 rue Lafitte in 1912: 'trois meubles de style Louis XV en marquetrie de cuivre… à deux tiroirs… quatre pieds cambrés a cariatides ailées'. It is curious that there are only three listed, which means that one was sold early on or it was mistakenly unaccounted for at the time. However, it seems clear that the four were indeed created as a group, as supported by the fact that they are marked in order (A, B, C, D). Additionally, upon close examination, it also appears that the walnut drawer linings were cut from the same section of wood. Lady Sackville eventually sold en bloc the art and furniture given to her by Sir John Murray Scott to Jacques Seligmann, a Parisian dealer. Seligmann sold the majority of the pieces during World War I, and he added a pencil annotation to the 1912 probate inventory that there was a pair rather than three commodes, thus possibly indicating that the other pair was sold prior to his purchase of the stock. The pair from the Frick Collection was acquired from Duveen Brothers in Paris, so the commodes could have been split between the two dealers with the present pair passing to Seligmann.
BLAKE OF LONDON
As noted earlier, John Webb most likely employed the Blake family to reproduce the Duke of Hamilton’s commode while it was on display at the Gore House exhibition. Webb and Henry Blake are documented working together on the Alnwick table for the Duke of Northumberland in 1865, so it seems likely that Webb went to them for assistance with the Hertford commission as well.
The Blake family has very few signed pieces to its name; however, there are several mentions of its members throughout the nineteenth century. Robert Blake's premises were first described in an 1820 directory as being located at 8 Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road. By 1843, he was apparently either retired or deceased because the directory lists George Blake and Brothers. Robert had four sons: Charles (b. 1814), Henry (b. 1821), George, and James. It appears that George separated from the brothers in 1843 when he was listed as occupying 53 Mount Street, while his brothers in 1851-52 were still documented at Stephen Street. By 1860, George was no longer listed, and by 1866 Charles appears to be the sole Blake cabinetmaker. Charles continued the firm on Stephen Street throughout the 1870s. In 1879, upon his death, his effects were sold at Christie’s.
A pair of commodes of this celebrated model by the 19th-century Parisian cabinetmaker Henri Dasson were sold Sotheby's New York, 27 October 2007, lot 326 for $853,000.
This group of four commodes was possibly commissioned by the 4th Marquess of Hertford, Richard Seymour-Conway (1800-1870). Lord Hertford was an avid collector of eighteenth-century furniture, which now forms the basis of the Wallace Collection, but like many collectors of his day he also demonstrated equal zeal in buying nineteenth-century recreations of older works. The nineteenth-century versions were actually often more expensive than the originals because of the cost of high-quality labour and materials. In 1853, the Duke of Hamilton and other collectors of eighteenth-century furniture lent their pieces to the Gore House exhibition in London. The Duke of Hamilton sent a commode by André-Charles Boulle, which is now at Petworth House, Sussex. The Petworth commode is one of several of this model produced in the eighteenth century. The design, probably conceived of by Gilles-Marie Oppenord, was originally executed by Boulle in 1708-09 for a pair of commodes for Louis XIV at the Grand Trianon. The success of the model led to further commissions, and at least five other examples by Boulle are accounted for in eighteenth-century auction catalogues. One of these is now in the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The keen interest in the model’s complex structure and its unique juxtaposition of convex and concave drawers did not abate but continued into the nineteenth century, as evidenced by the sustained demand for reproductions.
Lord Hertford was among the commode’s many admirers after his visit to the Specimens of Cabinet Work exhibition at Gore House. Inspired to acquire his own version of the Duke’s Boulle commode, he obtained permission to copy it. On 11 June 1853, the 4th Marquess wrote to Samuel Moses Mawson, a London dealer, saying, 'You might do me a great service & oblige me very much. You know there is at present an exhibition of works of art at Gore House. I should very much like to have drawings made of some of the principal & the most beautiful articles of furniture not of the middle ages but of Louis XIV, XV & XVI…'. After expending the effort to obtain drawings, Lord Hertford realised that the cabinetmakers could not produce copies from drawings alone and had to rethink his commission process. After revising his plan, he contacted John Webb, a cabinetmaker listed on Old Bond Street and an organizer of the Gore House exhibition. Webb most likely subcontracted much of the work to other cabinetmakers, and in particular to Henry Blake. The original mounts were likely copied using the most expensive and time-consuming processes available to nineteenth-century bronziers in order to produce mounts of identical size and quality. To achieve this, the bronzier must have created either a squeeze or a wood model of the original and adapted it to accommodate for shrinkage. It is important to note that there are a few slight modifications from the original mounts - the copies feature slightly shorter bail handles and foliated cups on the bottom of the helical feet. While some have argued this indicates that Hertford did not copy from the Hamilton commode but rather from another now-lost example, it has also been suggested that the bronzier made slight adaptations while copying. The other mounts, which have been previously removed and directly compared to the ones on the Hamilton commode now at Petworth, are identical in detail.
LORD HERTFORD'S LEGACY
Lord Hertford is documented owning three of these commodes, and this is not unusual as he was generally known to have multiple examples of pieces he admired. After Lord Hertford’s death in 1870, his son Sir Richard Wallace inherited his father's collection, the apartment in the rue Laffitte, the chateau of Bagatelle, and the estates in Ireland. He soon also bought the lease of Hertford House. Upon Sir Richard Wallace’s death in 1890, the estate and its property were bequeathed to his wife Lady Wallace. Lady Wallace left the Hertford House to England, while her other properties were bequeathed to her secretary and principal advisor, Sir John Murray Scott. In turn, Sir John Murray Scott sold Bagatelle in 1900 and left the rue Laffitte apartment and a large sum of money to his friend Victoria Sackville-West upon his death in 1912. It appears that the commodes are documented again at this point in the Paris probate valuation of 2 rue Lafitte in 1912: 'trois meubles de style Louis XV en marquetrie de cuivre… à deux tiroirs… quatre pieds cambrés a cariatides ailées'. It is curious that there are only three listed, which means that one was sold early on or it was mistakenly unaccounted for at the time. However, it seems clear that the four were indeed created as a group, as supported by the fact that they are marked in order (A, B, C, D). Additionally, upon close examination, it also appears that the walnut drawer linings were cut from the same section of wood. Lady Sackville eventually sold en bloc the art and furniture given to her by Sir John Murray Scott to Jacques Seligmann, a Parisian dealer. Seligmann sold the majority of the pieces during World War I, and he added a pencil annotation to the 1912 probate inventory that there was a pair rather than three commodes, thus possibly indicating that the other pair was sold prior to his purchase of the stock. The pair from the Frick Collection was acquired from Duveen Brothers in Paris, so the commodes could have been split between the two dealers with the present pair passing to Seligmann.
BLAKE OF LONDON
As noted earlier, John Webb most likely employed the Blake family to reproduce the Duke of Hamilton’s commode while it was on display at the Gore House exhibition. Webb and Henry Blake are documented working together on the Alnwick table for the Duke of Northumberland in 1865, so it seems likely that Webb went to them for assistance with the Hertford commission as well.
The Blake family has very few signed pieces to its name; however, there are several mentions of its members throughout the nineteenth century. Robert Blake's premises were first described in an 1820 directory as being located at 8 Stephen Street, Tottenham Court Road. By 1843, he was apparently either retired or deceased because the directory lists George Blake and Brothers. Robert had four sons: Charles (b. 1814), Henry (b. 1821), George, and James. It appears that George separated from the brothers in 1843 when he was listed as occupying 53 Mount Street, while his brothers in 1851-52 were still documented at Stephen Street. By 1860, George was no longer listed, and by 1866 Charles appears to be the sole Blake cabinetmaker. Charles continued the firm on Stephen Street throughout the 1870s. In 1879, upon his death, his effects were sold at Christie’s.
A pair of commodes of this celebrated model by the 19th-century Parisian cabinetmaker Henri Dasson were sold Sotheby's New York, 27 October 2007, lot 326 for $853,000.