Offered by Galerie Delvaille
French furniture of the 18th century & French figurative paintings
Work by Nicolas Lannuier, Master cabinetmaker in 1783
Sideboard described and reproduced in "L'art et la Manière des Maitres Ebénistes Français au XVIIIème siècle" by Jean Nicolay, Tome I page 271
Dimensions : W. 122 cm D. 45 cm H. 94.5 cm
Executed in the final years of the reign of Louis XVI, this sideboard is an important piece with sophisticated features. Undoubtedly made for an important patron, this sideboard is the work of Nicolas Lannuier, a master cabinetmaker specializing in 18th-century "luxury pieces", including extremely sober mahogany furniture. From 1786 to 1788, Lannuier delivered over 5,000 livres worth of furniture to the Prince de Condé for the Château de Chantilly. He also supplied the Comte de Provence, the future Louis XVIII, and the Duc d'Orléans.
In his reference work "L'Art et la Manière des Maitres Ebénistes Français au XVIIIème siècle, Tome I, published in 1976", Jean Nicolay writes "Nicolas-Louis-Cyrille LANNUYER signed very few pieces of furniture, all of which were extremely well made". In the same book, he reproduces our console on page 271, noting that "The mahogany console (Fig. A) shows infinitely distinguished and meticulous craftsmanship, while the discreet bronzes are limited to decorating the piece with their studied and rare lines".
To the layman, this console looks classic, but the connoisseur will see features of great refinement: The Cuban mahogany is first-rate, lightly flamed and extremely fine-grained; the two pure-white marbles are precisely set into the top and brace shelf; on the belt, the 7 finely chased bronze frames are positioned on ebony reserves, themselves surrounded by brass fillets. The swollen uprights, adorned with brass fluting, are slender at the waist and more powerful at their bases. They terminate in spinning top legs that echo the design of Adam Weisweiler, whose apocryphal stamp was added to this piece of furniture certainly in the 20th century.
The original label on this console provides valuable information: Nicolas Lannuier's workshop was called "A la ville de Lion" and was located in Paris on "rue du petit lion", which ran from rue de Condé to rue de Tournon, and is now called "rue Saint Sulpice". It also tells us that Lannuier had taken over the workshop and business of Reizell, the King's favorite craftsman, here spelled "Rezeil". Indeed, the Prince de Condé, for whom Lannuier did a great deal of work, had previously been Reizell's customer.
