Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Rare “in-between” format chest of drawers, opening with two drawers without crossbar.
Curved in front and on the sides, it rests on four arched feet.
Decorated with "Martin varnish" in imitation of Chinese lacquer on three sides.
On a black background, our chest of drawers presents lake landscapes in strong relief of gold powder and copper: walkers in traditional costumes, junk, dwelling on stilts of the Diojiaolou type * ...
Beautiful ornamentation of original mercury-gilded bronzes including: scraps of angles and Greek-style openwork foot slippers, lion's base, keyholes and handles with laurel tori.
Original "Aleppo Breach *" marble top with double moldings.
Frame and funds in oak.
Perfect state of conservation.
Stamped twice on the amounts "Roussel" and JME for the jurande of the joiners-cabinetmakers.
Parisian work from the Louis XV period around 1765-1770.
Dimensions:
Width: 95 cm; Height: 86cm, Depth: 52.5cm
Pierre Roussel (1723-1782) Cabinetmaker received master in Paris on August 21, 1745.
Very skilful marquetry maker, Roussel left an abundant, diverse and excellent quality production. Received Master Cabinetmaker in 1745, Pierre Roussel moved to rue de Charonne, in the faubourg Saint-Antoine under the name "L'Image de Saint Pierre ". Thanks to his qualities as a cabinetmaker and above all as an outstanding marquetry maker, he quickly acquired a great reputation. In 1762 he became a juror of his community. From 1767 he was considered to be one of the best cabinetmakers of his time, which is confirmed by the "Almanach d'un indication générale ou du Vray mérit" of 1769 which cites him as one of the first cabinetmakers in Paris. Greatly appreciated by his colleagues, he became deputy of the cabinetmakers in 1777 and then syndic two years later. Its abundant and varied productions have adapted to all the styles of the XVIIIth century, with elegance and refinement. Many Louis XV chests of drawers, in rosewood or violet wood veneer, are decorated with flower inlays or ribbon bows. Lacquer and the tasteful landscapes of the Far East are also often used in its decoration. On the furniture, Transition and Louis XVI we find many works inlaid with architectural landscapes of cities, rivers or ports, without of course forgetting the inlays with geometric designs often used. The inventory of his goods, carried out after his death, proves the prosperity of his establishment that his wife, associated with her sons, took over.
Works in Museums:
Pot-bellied chest of drawers, circa 1745-1750, opening with two drawers without visible crosspiece. Paris Decorative Arts Museum - N ° MAD157. Large chest of drawers with two drawers without crossbar. Curved on its three sides, it is in Japanese lacquer decorated with polychrome flowers and birds and gold on a black background. decorative arts museum N ° MAD1678. Flat desk, rectangular in shape. Museum of Decorative Arts - Lyon,
Louis XV chest of drawers with two drawers - Beauvais Museum
Louis XV commode - Decorative arts of Paris
Large Louis XV table - Louvre Museum
Small kidney table - Petit Palais - Paris
Transition Writing and Dressing Table - Museum of Fine Arts - Boston
Late Louis XV chest of drawers - Museum of Art - Cleveland
Bibliography:
Pierre Roussel cabinetmaker and dealer - Patricia Lemonnier - L'Estampille / L'Objet d'art, n ° 230, November 1989, p. 40-45
18th Century French Furniture - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Editions de l'Amateur - 2008
18th century cabinetmakers - Comte François de Salverte - Editions of Art and History - 1934
Dimensions:
Width: 95 cm; Height: 86cm, Depth: 52.5cm
* The Diojiaolou, literally “hanging attic” is a dwelling of ethnic minorities inhabiting the mountains of southwest China.
Without foundation and on stilts, this type of wooden house is built near the river, on a gentle slope.
* The Aleppo Breccia is one of the most beautiful French marbles.
It consists of angular fragments, yellow, orange, gray, brown encrusted in a light yellow cement.
Known since antiquity and widely used in furniture in the 18th century, it comes from a quarry near Aix en Provence, in the town of Tholonet in the Ste Victoire massif.
Our opinion :
The chest of drawers that we present is a very fine copy of the production of Pierre Roussel, one of the greatest Parisian cabinetmakers of the 18th century.
It offers us a piece of furniture with pure lines thanks to ingenious retractable crosspieces hidden inside the frame.
The very architectural cutout of the bottom drawer which receives the lamp base and the apparent simplicity of the Greek-style rolled-up bronzes recall that he was, with a small circle of cabinetmakers close to the king, one of the first to begin the end of the period. 'a baroque that had become too heavy, and that from the 1760s.
