Live Auction 7864500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe
A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU-MOUNTED, BRASS-INLAID AND EBONY BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUE
Lot 186 THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN (LOTS 186 & 187)

A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU-MOUNTED, BRASS-INLAID AND EBONY BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUE

LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, RECONSTRUCTED AND LARGELY REMOUNTED IN THE 19TH CENTURY

Closed8 July 2010

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GBP 37,250

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A LOUIS XIV ORMOLU-MOUNTED, BRASS-INLAID AND EBONY BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUE
LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, RECONSTRUCTED AND LARGELY REMOUNTED IN THE 19TH CENTURY
Inlaid overall in première partie with foliate scrolls, arabesques and bérainesque motifs, the stepped pediment decorated with foliage above a pair of glazed panelled doors each centred by a conformingly-inlaid roundel and mounted with cabochons to the corners, enclosing a crimson red silk-lined padded interior fitted with three shelves and twenty-one variously-sized drawers, the sides centred by conforming roundels, above a moulded plinth centred by a Bacchic mask and foliate scrolls, with bracket feet
97½ in. (247.5 cm.) high; 54½ in. (138.5 cm.) wide; 24¼ in. (61.5 cm.) deep

Almost certainly acquired by John, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848) for Cardiff Castle. Thence by descent.
Sold by order of the Executors and the Trustees of the Residue Fund of the 6th Marquess of Bute, Christie's, London, 2 December 1998, lot 95 [part lot], where acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

This Boulle bibliothèque and the following lot were almost certainly acquired by John, 2nd Marquess of Bute (1793-1848). It was probably he who collected many of the Boulle pieces in the family's collection such as those sold at Christie's London on 3 July 1996 which included lot 48, a Louis XIV armoire attributed to Nicolas Sageot and after a design by John Vardy, lot 49, a Régence commode attributed to Noël Gérard and lot 50, a Régence bureau plat by Noël Gérard.
A closely related Boulle marquetry bibliothèque from the property of S.C. Whitbread Esq. was sold Christie's London, 14 June 1990, lot 128.
Interestingly, the central circular medallion on the doors of all these bibliothèques can be compared with the work of Nicolas Sageot, maître in 1708, on the basis of the marquetry (P. Grand, 'Le Mobilier Boulle et les ateliers de l'époque', L'Objet d'Art, February 1993, p. 55).