A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRASS-INLAID RED TORTOISESHELL BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUES
Lot 258 THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR (LOTS 255-263)

A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRASS-INLAID RED TORTOISESHELL BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUES

BY NICOLAS SAGEOT, CIRCA 1710-20

Closed8 December 2011

Price Realised

GBP 85,250

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A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRASS-INLAID RED TORTOISESHELL BOULLE MARQUETRY BIBLIOTHEQUES
BY NICOLAS SAGEOT, CIRCA 1710-20
Inlaid in première and contre partie respectively, with strapwork and scrolling foliage, each with a breakfront cornice above a pair of full-length divided grilled doors, centred by an Apollo mask, the sides inlaid with lozenge motifs, one bibliothèque stamped eight times 'NS' (the contre-partie example), the other stamped seven times 'NICOLAS SAGOET' within a circle (the première-partie example), the mounts probably late 18th/19th century
94 in. (239 cm.) high; 54¼ in. (138 cm.) wide; 17 in. (43 cm.) deep (2)

Sotheby's, London, 6 December 2006, lot 28, where acquired by the present owner.

Specialist note

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
P. Grand, 'Le Mobilier Boulle et les ateliers de l'époque', L'Estampille - L'Objet d'Art', February, 1993, pp.48-70.
P.Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 1998, p.767.

Designed in the Louis XIV 'antique' manner developed by André-Charles Boulle and Jean Bérain, these bibliothèques - or armoires as they are typically referred to - are stamped by the ébéniste Nicolas Sageot whose oeuvre is discussed extensively by P. Grand in 'Le Mobilier Boulle et les ateliers de l'epoque', L'Estampille L'Objet d'Art, February 1993, pp.48 - 70.

Closely related armoires sold at auction recently include a pair stamped by Sageot, Christie's, Paris, 13 December 2006, lot 181 (EUR594,400 including premium), another stamped 'NS' for Sageot, Christie's, London, 17 June 1987, lot 65 (and ill. Ibid pp. 52-53), and a third related pair also stamped 'NS', Sotheby's, New York, 25 May 2000, lot 322 ($335,750 including premium). More recently, a single related bibliothèque attributed Sageot was sold Sotheby's, New York, 24 May 2007, lot 235 ($144,000 including premium), while another bookcase also stamped 'NS' was sold, 'Monsieur and Madame Francois: A Lifetime of Collecting', Christie's, London, 9 June 2011, lot 81 (£133,250 including premium).