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Lot Essay
Joseph Gengenbach, dit Canabas (1712-1797), maître in 1766.
Canabas, who was of German origin, came to Paris in 1745 where he initially worked for Jean-François Oeben and Pierre Migeon. The accounts of the latter, who was also a marchand, reveal that Canabas was supplying Migeon with furniture on a regular basis, before he became a master in 1766. He subsequently established himself in Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and supplied both his private clientele and other marchands. He specialised in small pieces of furniture, mainly utilitarian and practical pieces often of innovative design. His furniture was mainly executed in the best possible solid mahogany with a few exceptions where he used mahogany veneers; and most, such as these examples, usually maintain a clean line with out the need of ormolu mounts.
Canabas was a great inventor of furniture, particularly for the the dining room and was one of the first ébénistes in France to conceive of pieces made especially for serving with the absence of domestic help. He specialised in these tables in the fashionable goût anglais called tables servantes or rafraîchissoirs. This model is usually executed with two undertiers; however, examples of rafraîchissoirs with just a single undertier are known to exist (P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 2002, p. 164, fig. a).
A very similar example, also stamped by Canabas, is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Grands ébénistes et Menuisiers Parisiens du XVIIIè Siècle, 1740-1790, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, December 1955 - February 1956, no. 37, pl. 17). A pair of rafraîchissoirs in mahogany are in the Louvre, Paris (gift Mme Blard, 1994). Similar pairs of rafraîchissoirs stamped Canabas, were sold at Christie's Monaco, 2 December 1994, lot 168 (FF 555,000); Christie's, Paris, 16 December 2002, lot 219 (€39,950); and Christie's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 813 ($192,000). A single example, also stamped by Canabas, was sold from the Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann Collection, Christie's London, 10 April 2002, lot 346 (£17,625). A single stamped example, probably supplied to the duc de Choiseul for the Chanteloup circa 1770, was sold from an important private collection, Christie's, London, 10 February 2012, lot 726 (£46,850). Most recently, a pair was sold from the Desmarais Collection, Christie's, New York, 19 April 2019, lot 16 ($30,000).
Canabas, who was of German origin, came to Paris in 1745 where he initially worked for Jean-François Oeben and Pierre Migeon. The accounts of the latter, who was also a marchand, reveal that Canabas was supplying Migeon with furniture on a regular basis, before he became a master in 1766. He subsequently established himself in Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and supplied both his private clientele and other marchands. He specialised in small pieces of furniture, mainly utilitarian and practical pieces often of innovative design. His furniture was mainly executed in the best possible solid mahogany with a few exceptions where he used mahogany veneers; and most, such as these examples, usually maintain a clean line with out the need of ormolu mounts.
Canabas was a great inventor of furniture, particularly for the the dining room and was one of the first ébénistes in France to conceive of pieces made especially for serving with the absence of domestic help. He specialised in these tables in the fashionable goût anglais called tables servantes or rafraîchissoirs. This model is usually executed with two undertiers; however, examples of rafraîchissoirs with just a single undertier are known to exist (P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Paris, 2002, p. 164, fig. a).
A very similar example, also stamped by Canabas, is in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, Paris (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue Grands ébénistes et Menuisiers Parisiens du XVIIIè Siècle, 1740-1790, at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, December 1955 - February 1956, no. 37, pl. 17). A pair of rafraîchissoirs in mahogany are in the Louvre, Paris (gift Mme Blard, 1994). Similar pairs of rafraîchissoirs stamped Canabas, were sold at Christie's Monaco, 2 December 1994, lot 168 (FF 555,000); Christie's, Paris, 16 December 2002, lot 219 (€39,950); and Christie's, New York, 20 October 2006, lot 813 ($192,000). A single example, also stamped by Canabas, was sold from the Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann Collection, Christie's London, 10 April 2002, lot 346 (£17,625). A single stamped example, probably supplied to the duc de Choiseul for the Chanteloup circa 1770, was sold from an important private collection, Christie's, London, 10 February 2012, lot 726 (£46,850). Most recently, a pair was sold from the Desmarais Collection, Christie's, New York, 19 April 2019, lot 16 ($30,000).