Louis XV coiffeuse by BIRCKLÉ, supplier of the Crown

Parisian coiffeuse resting on four feet, opening with three drawers on the front and three shutters revealing a mirror and two lockers.

It rests on four curved legs ending with chiseled and gilded bronze. It opens with three drawers in front and three shutters revealing a mirror and two compartments, fully lined with old fabric in old pink color and gold braid. The front has 5 buttons and 4 keyholes in chiseled and gilded bronze.

The top is decorated with an exceptional decoration of trophies of musical instruments, flowers, and plain polychrome doves, in Greek nets.

Stamp of Jacques BIRCKLÉ (master on July 30, 1764), supplier of the Crown.

Recognized for his qualities as a marquetry maker, BIRCKLÉ gives the full measure of his talent in the superb veneers of this dressing table, the choice of species, the complexity and refinement of the marquetry of its top. The quality of finish of the details is irreproachable, as always, as the contemplation of the back or the interior shelves illustrates it.
This piece is part of the very fine production by Jacques BIRCKLÉ.

Very good original condition.


BIRCKLÉ, Jacques (1734 - 1803, master in 1764), supplier of the Garde-meuble de la Couronne during the reign of LOUIS XVI.

Born in 1734, Jacques BIRCKLÉ was first a free worker on rue de Charenton in Paris before became Master on July 30, 1764, settling in rue Saint-Nicolas.
A talented inlayer, BIRCKLÉ adapts to changing styles with ease, producing Louis XV style furniture with elegant curves and refined bronzes, Transition pieces with spectacular trompe l'oeil decorations such as flower vases, urns , draperies, music trophies, various attributes, landscapes, antique scenes... which will triumph with neoclassicism Louis XVI and make his fame.
He became a supplier of the Garde-meuble de la Couronne during the reign of LOUIS XVI. He produced numerous works for the service des Enfants de France, the Duke d'ORLEANS, the Marquis d'AUMONT, the Viscount de CALONNE, the Princesses de TINGRY and Princess de LAMBALLE. In 1787 he delivered several satinwood chests of drawers, with ormolu gilt ornaments, for the apartments of Queen MARIE-ANTOINETTE at the Château de Saint-Cloud, two chests of drawers for the Countess de PROVENCE in Versailles and actively helped furnish the Madame ÉLISABETH's pavilion in Grand-Montreuil.

When he died in 1803, his son took over his workshop, which still existed in 1825.


MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

• MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS, PARIS – "Table à toutes fins" – Louis XVI style, Paris, last third of the 18th century.
• MUSÉE COGNACQ-JAY, PARIS – "Table à écrire" – Paris, circa 1780.
• MUSÉE PASTEUR, PARIS – "Secrétaire plaqué de frisages" – Louis XVI style, Paris, 18th century.
• PETIT PALAIS, MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS DE LA VILLE DE PARIS, PARIS – "Commode" – plan en demi-lune, Paris, between 1775 and 1780.
• MUSÉE LAMBINET, VERSAILLES – "Commode Transition à deux tiroirs" – circa 1775.
• MUSÉE LAMBINET, VERSAILLES – "Commode « en tombeau »" – Louis XV style, second half of the 18th century.
• CASTLE, LA MOTTE-TILLY – "Secrétaire à abattant" – (att.) décor de vases fleuris et paysages, Paris, 4th quarter of the 18th century
• HOUSE OF GEORGES SAND, NOHANT-VIC – "Commode" – Paris, 1780.
• EPHRUSSI DE ROTHSCHILD FOUNDATION, SAINT-JEAN-CAP-FERRAT – "Table de salon" – Louis XV style.
• MUSÉE HENRI BARRÉ, THOUARS – "Commode en tombeau" – Louis XV style, second quarter of the 18th century.
• BEMBERG FOUNDATION, TOULOUSE – "Commode" – second half of the 18th century.
• VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDRES – "Dressing table" – Veneered in tulipwood and other exotic woods to form panels of cube marquetry, on a carcase of oak and pine, Paris, 1765-1770, former collection Lord Stuart de Rothesay, Ambassador of the United Kingdom in France.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

• GRANT Sarah, "Female Portraiture and Patronage in Marie Antoinette's Court. The Princesse de Lamballe, Routledge", New York, 2018.
• KJELLBERG Pierre, "Le Mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle", Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 2008.
• MEDLAM Sarah," The Bettine, Lady Abingdon Collection, The Bequest of Mrs T.R.P. Hole, A Handbook", Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1996.
• PRADÈRE Alexandre, "Les ébénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution", Éditions du Chêne, 1989.
• PRADÈRE Alexandre, "French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution", J. Paul Getty, Malibu, 1989.
• SALVERTE, Comte François de, "Les Ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle", Éditions d'Art et d'Histoire, 1934.