Live Auction 14193Robert de Balkany Rome & the Côte d'Azur
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BUREAU A GRADIN
Lot 38

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BUREAU A GRADIN

ATTRIBUTED TO DAVID ROENTGEN, CIRCA 1785, PARTIALLY LATER MOUNTED

Closed23 March 2017

Price Realised

GBP 85,000

Considering selling a similar item?

Discover its value with a complimentary estimate from our specialists.

More Information

How to sell

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BUREAU A GRADIN
ATTRIBUTED TO DAVID ROENTGEN, CIRCA 1785, PARTIALLY LATER MOUNTED
Mounted overall with mille raie panels, the superstructure fitted side compartments with conceded graduated spring-loaded hidden mahogany-lined drawers, above three drawers, the leather-lined writing surface above a frieze drawer flanked by a pair of cupboard doors, each enclosing a compartment with drawers and concealing a hinged rear compartment comprising three drawers and three sham drawers, the reverse finished, spuriously stamped three times 'J. H. RIESENER' and once 'JME', with partial ink label inscribed 'Seligmann', with a further label inscribed '...de M. Seligmann/19 Oct. 1934', some alterations to central locking mechanism
47 ½ in. (120.5 cm.) high, 62 ¼ in. (158 cm.) wide, 36 in. (91.25 cm.) deep

By repute Duc d'Avray, Château de Mareil Le Guyon.
The Seligmann Collection; sold Sotheby's, Monaco, 14-15 June 1981, lot 76.
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, New York, 4 May 1985, lot 283.
The Barbara Piasecka Johnson Collection; sold Christie's, New York, 20 October 1993, lot 373.
Galerie Segoura, Paris.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, New York, 20 April 2007, lot 137.

Specialist note

With its unusual architectural form and fine mechanical construction, this spectacular desk was without doubt executed by the most sophisticated German cabinetmaker David Roentgen (1743-1807).

Comparison of this bureau à gradin with the lower section of documented cylinder desks made by Roentgen, such as the one in Versailles (probably purchased by Louis XVI in 1781) or that acquired by George IV and now at Buckingham Palace, would allow a dating of this desk to circa 1785-86. The elaborate concealed and hinged drawer structure is also a characteristic found on a number of Roentgen pieces (J.M. Greber, Abraham und David Roentgen, Möbel für Europa, vol. II, 1980, figs. 374, 400, 434, 538, 544, 665). A cylinder bureau with the same distinctive base was sold anonymously at Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 7 January 1955, lot 318 and related stepped spring-loaded drawers are seen on the superstructure of a cylinder bureau by Roentgen illustrated in J.M Greber, op. cit, pls. 683-84.