Description
* ATTRIBUTED TO MARTIN CARLIN (1730-1785) Master in Paris in 1766 RARE GREEK CHEST OF DRAWERS KNOWN AS "COMMODE DE BUFFON Louis XVI period, around 1766. Rosewood and amaranth marquetry, turquoise marble. H. 98 cm W. 134 cm D. 64 cm Small accidents and missing veneer on the sides. Some elements of veneer preserved. With a key. This important chest of drawers comes from the castle of Montbard (Côte-d'Or) property of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon (1707-1788), Intendant of the King's Garden on July 26, 1739. Buffon undertook important works between 1733 and 1742 in his castle and lived there from 1749 to 1788. He became the first Count of Buffon in 1774. It seems that this chest of drawers arrived at the château between 1766 and 1770. It remained in the Montbard property until the death of the Intendant. The father of the king's naturalist, at the age of 50, married a young lady Nadault, 28 years his junior, to the great displeasure of his son. He himself got married in 1752 at 45 years old to Marie Françoise de Saint-Belin Malain, a young woman of 20 years old taken from the Ursuline Convent, directed by Jeanne Leclerc de Buffon. It was Henri Nadault de Buffon, great grand-nephew of the naturalist, who inherited the property. In 1870, the city of Montbard bought the abandoned castle. - First transfer: From March 5 to 10, 1890, at the death of Henri Nadault de Buffon, the furniture of the castle is dispersed. The chest of drawers was sold under N° 578 by the Galerie Georges Petit and acquired by the Baron Seillière. - Second transfer: Dispersion of the important Collection of the late Mr. le Baron Seillière at the Château de Mello, Galerie Georges Petit, on Thursday March 9 1911 (Expert M. Mannheim) under the n° 87 of the catalog, p 38. Dim H. 97 cm L. 135 cm) Mention on the catalog : "From the sale of the castle of Montbard and would have belonged to Buffon" The chest of drawers found a buyer for 91 000 F (approx. 370 000 € in 2022) acquired by "Esmond". A precision concerning the marble is found in the catalog: "Tablet in turquoise marble", it is indeed the one that covers it today. - Finally, this exceptional piece of furniture, which was part of two important collections arrived at Bernard Steinitz's. Bernard Tapie will buy it from the antique dealer among his first purchases for his hotel in Paris. The chest of drawers, known as the "Buffon" chest of drawers, does not bear a stamp. It is not the only exceptional piece of furniture without a mark or stamp. This model with five drawers and two doors is in marquetry with a squared background The small panels on each side of the handles are decorated with the same marquetry as the other drawers. The small panels on each side of the handles are in the model of interlacing with quatrefoils. The panel surrounds, the base belt and the high the high belt are in rosewood. Only the low belt and the feet are lined with a net of amaranth. The decoration of bronzes is sumptuous: - The belt, is framed by a remarkable frieze of posts. - On the four uprights, a fall decorated with piastres. - The hooves with acanthus, ended by a lion's paw extending into a inverted rhombus plate in gilded lustre and amati center. - The bronze apron is an Indian mask with acanthus. - The pulling hands draped in natural. - On the sides, again an apron with openwork scroll decoration. - Each panel, three in front and one on each side are framed with a molding of a molding. Finally, the turquoise blue marble top, with original redent. Bibliography and References : This chest of drawers is one of the four known "à la grecque" models whose the front is divided into three panels surmounted by a frieze, the handles in and the bronze of the apron with Indian head: - Luigi Anton Laura Collection, Sotheby's and Poulain-le Fur sale, June 2001, pages 88 and 89, lot N° 52 : " Important Transitional commode attributed to Carlin to Carlin around 1765". H. 89 cm W. 147 cm. D. 58 cm, estimated at € 535 000 / 760 000. - The one featured in Pierre Kjellberg's book, "Le Mobilier Français of the XVIIIth siècle ", éditons de l'amateur, page 163 (Color photograph). - The one from the Collection of Madame Riahi, sale Ader, Picard, Tajan, Hôtel George V, June 23, 1988, lot N° 21. H. 89 cm W. 143 cm D. 61 cm. This piece of furniture was the first important purchase of Bernard Tapie to constitute his collection.
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* ATTRIBUTED TO MARTIN CARLIN (1730-1785) Master in Paris in 1766 RARE GREEK CHEST OF DRAWERS KNOWN AS "COMMODE DE BUFFON Louis XVI period, around 1766. Rosewood and amaranth marquetry, turquoise marble. H. 98 cm W. 134 cm D. 64 cm Small accidents and missing veneer on the sides. Some elements of veneer preserved. With a key. This important chest of drawers comes from the castle of Montbard (Côte-d'Or) property of Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count de Buffon (1707-1788), Intendant of the King's Garden on July 26, 1739. Buffon undertook important works between 1733 and 1742 in his castle and lived there from 1749 to 1788. He became the first Count of Buffon in 1774. It seems that this chest of drawers arrived at the château between 1766 and 1770. It remained in the Montbard property until the death of the Intendant. The father of the king's naturalist, at the age of 50, married a young lady Nadault, 28 years his junior, to the great displeasure of his son. He himself got married in 1752 at 45 years old to Marie Françoise de Saint-Belin Malain, a young woman of 20 years old taken from the Ursuline Convent, directed by Jeanne Leclerc de Buffon. It was Henri Nadault de Buffon, great grand-nephew of the naturalist, who inherited the property. In 1870, the city of Montbard bought the abandoned castle. - First transfer: From March 5 to 10, 1890, at the death of Henri Nadault de Buffon, the furniture of the castle is dispersed. The chest of drawers was sold under N° 578 by the Galerie Georges Petit and acquired by the Baron Seillière. - Second transfer: Dispersion of the important Collection of the late Mr. le Baron Seillière at the Château de Mello, Galerie Georges Petit, on Thursday March 9 1911 (Expert M. Mannheim) under the n° 87 of the catalog, p 38. Dim H. 97 cm L. 135 cm) Mention on the catalog : "From the sale of the castle of Montbard and would have belonged to Buffon" The chest of drawers found a buyer for 91 000 F (approx. 370 000 € in 2022) acquired by "Esmond". A precision concerning the marble is found in the catalog: "Tablet in turquoise marble", it is indeed the one that covers it today. - Finally, this exceptional piece of furniture, which was part of two important collections arrived at Bernard Steinitz's. Bernard Tapie will buy it from the antique dealer among his first purchases for his hotel in Paris. The chest of drawers, known as the "Buffon" chest of drawers, does not bear a stamp. It is not the only exceptional piece of furniture without a mark or stamp. This model with five drawers and two doors is in marquetry with a squared background The small panels on each side of the handles are decorated with the same marquetry as the other drawers. The small panels on each side of the handles are in the model of interlacing with quatrefoils. The panel surrounds, the base belt and the high the high belt are in rosewood. Only the low belt and the feet are lined with a net of amaranth. The decoration of bronzes is sumptuous: - The belt, is framed by a remarkable frieze of posts. - On the four uprights, a fall decorated with piastres. - The hooves with acanthus, ended by a lion's paw extending into a inverted rhombus plate in gilded lustre and amati center. - The bronze apron is an Indian mask with acanthus. - The pulling hands draped in natural. - On the sides, again an apron with openwork scroll decoration. - Each panel, three in front and one on each side are framed with a molding of a molding. Finally, the turquoise blue marble top, with original redent. Bibliography and References : This chest of drawers is one of the four known "à la grecque" models whose the front is divided into three panels surmounted by a frieze, the handles in and the bronze of the apron with Indian head: - Luigi Anton Laura Collection, Sotheby's and Poulain-le Fur sale, June 2001, pages 88 and 89, lot N° 52 : " Important Transitional commode attributed to Carlin to Carlin around 1765". H. 89 cm W. 147 cm. D. 58 cm, estimated at € 535 000 / 760 000. - The one featured in Pierre Kjellberg's book, "Le Mobilier Français of the XVIIIth siècle ", éditons de l'amateur, page 163 (Color photograph). - The one from the Collection of Madame Riahi, sale Ader, Picard, Tajan, Hôtel George V, June 23, 1988, lot N° 21. H. 89 cm W. 143 cm D. 61 cm. This piece of furniture was the first important purchase of Bernard Tapie to constitute his collection.
