Roger Vandercruse dit Lacroix ou RVLC (1727 - Paris, 1799 ; maître en 1755)

ARCHIVES SECRETARY Louis XVI period Rosewood, amaranth, yellow wood and ebony fillets, oak frame; gilt bronze; royal red marble Stamped twice on the back R.V.L.C and JME hallmark Labels of the house of Tassin, manufacturer of cardboard boxes H.151 cm, W.106 cm, D. 36,5 cm Thanks to the collection of the Works of Richard de Lalonde, draughtsman and decorator of the Louis XVI period, published by Edouard Rouveyre in Paris (Fig.1), we learn that this type of furniture was called archive secretary, more commonly known today as cardboard box. The one we present here has an elegant front with ten cardboard boxes covered with green morocco gilded with small irons. It opens with two doors in the lower part, inlaid with flowering vases on checkered entablatures. The label of the boxes has been preserved, making it a precious testimony of the period. Tassin, manufacturer of cardboard boxes of all kinds: as office boxes, ditto for work and lock, drawing wallets of all sizes and all ways ... made shipments in the departments and abroad: all at fair prices. He held his business at 23 rue de la vieille Monnaie, mentioned on the plans of Paris between 1760 and 1771.