All lots "Desks" Advanced search

Reset all filters
289 results

Tue 09 Jul

REGENCY PERIOD FLAT DESK Attributed to Charles Cressent (1685-1768) In satinwood and amaranth veneer, with chased and partly gilded bronze ornamentation, gilded sheathed leather top encircled by a bronze mould, the belt opening onto three large drawers and two secret drawers flanking the central recessed drawer, the sides adorned with Bacchus masks and acanthus scrolls, the curved uprights surmounted by Chinese heads and finished with claws;restorations, accidents and missing parts to the veneer. H.:76 cm (30 in.) l.:202 cm (79 ½ in.) P.:95 cm (37 ½ in.) Provenance: Baron Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918) at Halton House, Buckinghamshire ; His nephew, Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882-1942); The latter's son, Baron Edmund de Rothschild (1916-2009); His Sale, Christie's London, July 3, 1975, lot 65 (Fig. 1); Sale in Paris, Hôtel Meurice, December 1, 1976, lot 177; Former Akram Ojjeh (1918-1991) collection; Sale, Christie's Monaco, December 11-12, 1999, lot 53 (FF. 4,192,500) ; Former Djahanguir Riahi collection (1914-2014). Bibliography : B.E. Escott, The story of Halton House, Country Home of Alfred de Rothschild, 2008, p.70 (illustrated). A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, sculpteur, ébéniste du Régent, Éditions Faton, Dijon, 2003, p.265, fig. 44 (illustrated). A Regence gilt-bronze mounted, satinwood and amaranth bureau plat, attributed to Charles Cressent Within Cressent's oeuvre, flat desks remain the best-known pieces of furniture, and even if their proportion is relatively low in his corpus, they leave the clearest image of Charles Cressent's art among his contemporaries. A Cressent desk comparable to our own is illustrated in the famous portrait of the Turkish Ambassador Saïd Mehmet Pacha painted in 1742 by Jacques-André-Joseph-Camelot Aved (cf. fig. 2). Our desk belongs to the very early part of Cressent's career, in the early 1720's. The influence of André-Charles Boulle's work is clear. André-Charles Boulle is clear in the choice of bronze ornaments, the powerful curve of the legs and the overall shape of the desk. Indeed, the angular heads of women wearing Chinese hats can be found on flat desks in tortoiseshell and brass marquetry produced by Boulle's workshop in the same years, as can the faun masks or leafy falls decorating the lower part of the desk. However, as can be seen from our piece, Cressent departs from Boulle's work by lightening the belt line and lengthening the side drawers to the detriment of the central drawer. Our desk belongs to a group of six pieces identified by Alexandre Pradère in the monograph he dedicated to Cressent's work under the section "Bureaux Plats à Têtes de Chinoises" (cfr. A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, Éditions Faton, Dijon, 2003, p.265): - A first copy from the former collection of Charles Dupleix de Bacquencourt, Duc de Camaran, at Château de Courson (until the beginning of the 20th century, it had its own cartonnier). - A second, acquired by J. Paul Getty in 1949 and now in the Getty Museum in Los Angeles - A third formerly in the Josse collection, sale in Paris, May 29, 1894, lot 152, then in the Doucet collection, then in the Ernest Cronier collection, sale in Paris, December 4, 1905 and finally in the François Coty collection, sale December 1, 1936, lot 84 (disappeared during the war). - A fourth desk formerly owned by the Duke of Sutherland in Trentham (sold July 6, 1925, lot 485). - A final copy from the Béhague collection, where it remains to this day. Like all the examples mentioned, with the exception of the one from the former Sutherland collection, our piece displays a peculiarity found on other large Cressent desks: the masks of bearded men surrounding the central drawer conceal two secret drawers of the same depth as the others. This feature, which seems to have been Cressent's own invention, enabled a secretary to renew ink, sealing wax or paper, without having access to the other three large drawers, which could thus remain locked. Prestigious provenance: Rothschild-Ojjeh The rarity of this model is heightened by its prestigious provenance; indeed, it is featured in an 1892 photo illustrating the salon of Halton House (cfr. fig. 3), the residence in the English county of Buckinghamshire belonging to Baron Alfred de Rothschild (1842-1918). Alfred inherited Halton from his father, Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1808-1879); however, it was Alfred who gave the property its current chateau-like appearance in the most

Estim. 70 000 - 100 000 EUR

Tue 09 Jul

LOUIS XVI PERIOD CYLINDER DESK Attributed to Claude-Charles Saunier In satin-finish and satin-finish veneer decorated on all sides, with chased and gilded bronze ornamentation, the cylinder opens with a flap revealing a writing desk, three drawers and two compartments, two sliding side shelves, the belt opens with four drawers, resting on eight sheathed legs;small accidents and missing parts. Dimensions (closed) : H.:115 cm (45 ¼ in.) l.:191,5 cm (75 ½ in.) P.:95 cm (37 ½ in.) A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted and satinwood cylinder desk, attributed to Claude-Charles Saunier Stylistically dating from the years 1775-1780, this very large cylinder desk is one of the most accomplished examples of this new type of writing desk, created in the 1760s by Jean-François Oeben, before becoming a great success due to its practicality. With its resolutely architectural lines, veneered in the finest satin-finish and embellished with sober, finely chased bronze ornamentation, it can be compared with the cylinder desks produced by the best cabinetmakers of the Louis XVI period, such as Claude-Charles Saunier. The rare radiant sun motif found on the cylinder of our example can be found on a cylinder desk stamped by Saunier and illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe siècle, Les Éditions de L'Amateur, Paris, 1999, p.821. It should also be noted that the same bronze escutcheons and keyhole adorn the top of the legs of a cylinder desk stamped by Jean Caumont and sold at Sotheby's Paris, April 4, 2023, lot 79.

Estim. 12 000 - 18 000 EUR

Wed 10 Jul

LOUIS XV STYLE BUREAU PLAT DIT "DE L'ABBÉ TERRAY" Based on a model by Nicolas Pierre Severin Satinwood veneer, chased and gilded bronze ornamentation, three drawers on the belt, curved legs surmounted by shells and foliage. H.:79 cm (31 in.) l.:201 cm (79 ¼ in.) P.:98 cm (38 ½ in.) Comparative bibliography: C. Mestdagh, L'Ameublement d'Art Français 1850-1900, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 57, 283 and 284. C. Payne, Paris, La Quintessence du Meuble au XIXe siècle, Éditions Monelle Hayot, 2018, p.148. A Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted and satinwood bureau plat, after the model by Nicolas Pierre Severin Our elegant flat desk, with its monumental proportions, is a replica of the famous Abbé Terray desk, kept at the Musée du Louvre since 1924 (inv. OA 7805). The original was made around 1760 for Louis XV's last Controller General of Finances, and is stamped by Nicolas Pierre Severin, Master in 1757. Better known for his work as a restorer, some authors have speculated that he acted as restorer and that the desk is the work of Joseph Baumhauer. This model enjoyed great success in the 19th century, as evidenced by the stamped examples produced by the leading cabinetmakers of the day, including Henri Dasson, Alfred Beurdeley, Paul Sormani and Gervais Durand. Rare on the market, among the latest examples to come up for sale in recent years: - Christie's Paris, April 23, 2013, lot 575 (signed Sormani and dated 1881) ; - Sotheby's New York, April 22, 2010, lot 128 (signed Beurdeley); - Sotheby's New York, April 14, 2016, lot 614 (signed E. Laurent Rue Charonne). It should be noted that all these copies are smaller than ours, which is the same size as the original copy in the Louvre.

Estim. 12 000 - 18 000 EUR
Security
Online payments are secured by Ingenico and encrypted transactions.
Guarantees
Each lot has been authenticated and appraised by an Auction House.
Support
Consult our FAQ or contact us
Composed of several subsidiaries, the Drouot Group is a major player in the art market. Hôtel Drouot, located in the heart of Paris, has been the world's largest public auction center since 1852. 15 salerooms are available to more than 70 auction houses. The emulation generated by an annual offer of 230,000 artworks from 21 major specialities - from Antiquity to street art - attracts some 3,000 visitors every day. The Group's digital platform, Drouot.com, offers digital sales - Live auctions (live broadcasting and participation in auctions), Online-only auctions (dematerialised auctions) and Buy Now sales (sales of lots at fixed prices). Nearly 2 million items are offered annually by 600 auction houses. Auction news is reported every week in La Gazette Drouot, the leading weekly magazine for the art market and culture published by Auctionspress.
More about Drouot
Drouot certified auction houses
To buy
How to buy on Drouot.com
How to buy at the Hôtel Drouot
Glossary
Useful links
To sell
Value your property
Auctions at the Hôtel Drouot
Subscribe
SERVICES FOR PROFESSIONALS
Auctioneers
Contacts
HÔTEL DROUOT
9, rue Drouot 75009 Paris, France
+33 (0)1 48 00 20 00
[email protected]

DROUOT.com
[email protected]
Press Center
Private events
CGU and legal notice - Privacy Statement - Copyright © Drouot.com