BY MARTIN CARLIN, LAST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY

Details

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BUREAU A PUPITRE
BY MARTIN CARLIN, LAST QUARTER 18TH CENTURY
The detachable upper section with a rounded rectangular double-ratchetted green leather-lined reading slope with a removable mahogany stop, the platform top with pierced three-quarter gallery above a slide to each side, the panelled frieze drawer above a spalt supported open shelf, the waist above a panelled secretaire-drawer with hinged fall-front and green leather-lined writing-surface, on turned tapering fluted legs headed by engine-turned capitals and joined by a concave-fronted rectangular undertier, with tapering sabots, stamped twice 'M. CARLIN' and 'JME'
66½ in. (169 cm.) high, fully extended; 49½ in. (126 cm.) high, closed; 30½ in. (77 cm.) wide; 22½ in. (57 cm.) deep

Provenance

Boulle to Jansen: An Important Private European Collection, Christie's, London, 11-12 June 2003, lot 53, where acquired.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:

F. J. B. Watson, Le Meuble Louis XVI, Paris, 1963, no.135.
P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture - III, London, 1996, p.1542.

Special Notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

Brought to you by

Adrian Hume-Sayer

ahume-sayer@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2696

Lot Essay

Martin Carlin, maître in 1766.

Arguably the most celebrated ébéniste of the Louis XVI period, Martin Carlin is known for his delicate and multi-functional furniture. Married to the sister of fellow cabinetmaker Jean-François Oeben and established au signe de la Colombe in the Grand-Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Carlin worked almost exclusively for the marchand-merciers Simon-Philippe Poirier and his partner Dominique Daguerre. Executed for a library or cabinet, the complex mechanism of this pupitre suggests it was most probably a commission. A related bureau à écrire debout to the present lot formerly in the collection of Sir Richard Wallace, rue Lafitte, Paris, sold Sotheby's Monaco, 4-5 March 1984, lot 485 (illustrated. in F. J. B. Watson, Le Meuble Louis XVI, Paris, 1963, no.135, and P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture - III, London, 1996, p.1542).

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