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Lot Essay
The present cabinets form a highly important addition to the rare group of early French ébénisterie incorporating large-scale panels of Oriental lacquer created during the Régence and early years of Louis XV's reign. Fitted with panels elegantly framed within beautifully-chased ormolu mounts and colourful vernis martin borders, they are an impressive example of the creative involvement of the marchands-merciers in early 18th century furniture production.
THE EARLY FASHION FOR LACQUER MOUNTED FURNTIURE
The East was a source of constant fascination for European monarchs and their Court since trade was established in the late 16th century, and imported wares such as lacquerwork, porcelain and textiles were highly prized. Demand in the West for lacquer was met by artisans in centres such as Canton which specialized in creating goods specifically for export. Initially the primary source for lacquer was Japan but by the end of the seventeenth century, the trade had opened up to include China. In France, large shipments of lacquer arrived in Nantes as early as 1700 and the trade facilitated by the Compagnie des Indes was vigorously supported by the Regent after 1715 when he came to power. The present panels would have been costly and, given their size, were most likely adapted from a folding screen. Fitted with a complete panel lacquered to the front and reverse, the decoration to the doors is particularly distinctive and does not conform to the more common technique of removing the ground wood from the back of the lacquer panels to be used like veneer, often with disregard for the coherence of the design. The panels are also expertly embellished by a vernisseur, as it was common to augment the decoration to suit European taste.
THE ROLE OF THE MARCHANDS-MERCIERS
Due to various trade restrictions, lacquer became almost exclusive to the trade of the marchands-merciers, the class of dealers who acquired the lacquer at wholesale auctions and commissioned ébénistes to adorn the most precious furniture and objets d'arts. Marchands such as Claude-Antoine Julliot, Thomas-Joachim Hébert, François Darnaud and Edme-François Gersaint were among the first to promote the fashion for lacquer furniture from the 1720s (T. Wolvesperges, Le Meuble Français En Laque Au XVIII Siecle, Paris, 1999, pp.161-170). One marchand who particularly promoted the taste for lacquer-veneered furniture was Edme-François Gersaint, who publicized ancien lacque amongst small cabinets, boxes and other curiosities in a 1723 advertisement (C. Sargentson, Merchants and Luxury Markets: The Marchands-Merciers of Eighteenth Century Paris, London, 1996, p.63). Dating to a period before the guild system imposed a strict system of stamps on cabinetmakers, one can only speculate as to the origin of what was surely a very prestigious commission. Mounted with extremely fine chinoiserie bronzes, it is almost certain that one of the foremost marchands of the period was responsible for sourcing the various craftsmen needed to execute such an impressive pair of cabinets.
RELATED EXAMPLES
Among the small group of recorded cabinets and armoires from this period incorporating lacquer panels is an example signed by the marchand mercier Louis Guignard and dated 1723, sold from the Estate of Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, Christie's, New York, 18 March 2005, lot 305 ($180,000 including premium), whilst a further example sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 7 June 2011, lot 500 ($170,500 including premium). An additional armoire large with coromandel lacquer and vernis martin is in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris (T. Wolvesperges, op. cit., p. 56, fig. 46).
THE PROVENANCE
This pair of cabinets was possibly acquired by William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman (d. 1744) of Shobdon Court, Herefordshire, whose second wife, Anne Churchill, was the second daughter and co-heir of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Lord Bateman was in Paris in the early 18th century when he possibly commissioned the cabinets; in this period he was painted by the Premier peintre du Roi to Louis XV, Carle van Loo (d. 1765), a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. The cabinets then possibly passed by descent to William Bateman-Hanbury, 2nd Baron Bateman (d. 1901) and his wife, Agnes (née Kerrison). Lady Bateman had inherited stately Oakley Park, Suffolk from her brother in 1886, and it became her principal residence following her husband’s death in 1901. The contents of Oakley Park were sold by Christie’s after Lady Bateman’s death, and the property was demolished shortly after.
Alternatively, the cabinets could have entered Oakley Park through the Kerrison family, who acquired Oakley Park, or Hoxne Hall as it was then named, in 1820. The estate was purchased by Matthias Kerrison, a wealthy grain merchant who also owned nearby Brome Hall. Kerrison’s son, the politician General Sir Edward Kerrison 1st Bt, commissioned the architect Sydney Smirke to remodel the house in the 1830s, and it is possible the cabinets entered the collection during this period of redecoration.
THE EARLY FASHION FOR LACQUER MOUNTED FURNTIURE
The East was a source of constant fascination for European monarchs and their Court since trade was established in the late 16th century, and imported wares such as lacquerwork, porcelain and textiles were highly prized. Demand in the West for lacquer was met by artisans in centres such as Canton which specialized in creating goods specifically for export. Initially the primary source for lacquer was Japan but by the end of the seventeenth century, the trade had opened up to include China. In France, large shipments of lacquer arrived in Nantes as early as 1700 and the trade facilitated by the Compagnie des Indes was vigorously supported by the Regent after 1715 when he came to power. The present panels would have been costly and, given their size, were most likely adapted from a folding screen. Fitted with a complete panel lacquered to the front and reverse, the decoration to the doors is particularly distinctive and does not conform to the more common technique of removing the ground wood from the back of the lacquer panels to be used like veneer, often with disregard for the coherence of the design. The panels are also expertly embellished by a vernisseur, as it was common to augment the decoration to suit European taste.
THE ROLE OF THE MARCHANDS-MERCIERS
Due to various trade restrictions, lacquer became almost exclusive to the trade of the marchands-merciers, the class of dealers who acquired the lacquer at wholesale auctions and commissioned ébénistes to adorn the most precious furniture and objets d'arts. Marchands such as Claude-Antoine Julliot, Thomas-Joachim Hébert, François Darnaud and Edme-François Gersaint were among the first to promote the fashion for lacquer furniture from the 1720s (T. Wolvesperges, Le Meuble Français En Laque Au XVIII Siecle, Paris, 1999, pp.161-170). One marchand who particularly promoted the taste for lacquer-veneered furniture was Edme-François Gersaint, who publicized ancien lacque amongst small cabinets, boxes and other curiosities in a 1723 advertisement (C. Sargentson, Merchants and Luxury Markets: The Marchands-Merciers of Eighteenth Century Paris, London, 1996, p.63). Dating to a period before the guild system imposed a strict system of stamps on cabinetmakers, one can only speculate as to the origin of what was surely a very prestigious commission. Mounted with extremely fine chinoiserie bronzes, it is almost certain that one of the foremost marchands of the period was responsible for sourcing the various craftsmen needed to execute such an impressive pair of cabinets.
RELATED EXAMPLES
Among the small group of recorded cabinets and armoires from this period incorporating lacquer panels is an example signed by the marchand mercier Louis Guignard and dated 1723, sold from the Estate of Mrs. Charles W. Engelhard, Christie's, New York, 18 March 2005, lot 305 ($180,000 including premium), whilst a further example sold anonymously, Christie's, New York, 7 June 2011, lot 500 ($170,500 including premium). An additional armoire large with coromandel lacquer and vernis martin is in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris (T. Wolvesperges, op. cit., p. 56, fig. 46).
THE PROVENANCE
This pair of cabinets was possibly acquired by William Bateman, 1st Viscount Bateman (d. 1744) of Shobdon Court, Herefordshire, whose second wife, Anne Churchill, was the second daughter and co-heir of John, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Lord Bateman was in Paris in the early 18th century when he possibly commissioned the cabinets; in this period he was painted by the Premier peintre du Roi to Louis XV, Carle van Loo (d. 1765), a member of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture. The cabinets then possibly passed by descent to William Bateman-Hanbury, 2nd Baron Bateman (d. 1901) and his wife, Agnes (née Kerrison). Lady Bateman had inherited stately Oakley Park, Suffolk from her brother in 1886, and it became her principal residence following her husband’s death in 1901. The contents of Oakley Park were sold by Christie’s after Lady Bateman’s death, and the property was demolished shortly after.
Alternatively, the cabinets could have entered Oakley Park through the Kerrison family, who acquired Oakley Park, or Hoxne Hall as it was then named, in 1820. The estate was purchased by Matthias Kerrison, a wealthy grain merchant who also owned nearby Brome Hall. Kerrison’s son, the politician General Sir Edward Kerrison 1st Bt, commissioned the architect Sydney Smirke to remodel the house in the 1830s, and it is possible the cabinets entered the collection during this period of redecoration.