Lot Essay
Pierre Langlois (d.1781) is widely credited as the preeminent French émigré cabinet maker working in London during the third quarter of the 18th century and numerous important commissions are known. His patrons included the Duke of Northumberland, the Duke of Bedford, the Earl of Coventry, Sir Lawrence Dundas and Horace Walpole. Whilst the early provenance of this dressing table has not been discovered it is likely that it too would have originally graced an interior of some significance, more than qualifying it for its recent position in the bedroom of Raine, Countess Spencer.
The body of work attributed to Langlois is various but there are several distinctive threads which run through his known oeuvre - most notably perhaps is an almost indefinable muscularity of line, giving much of his work a presence and stature seldom achieved by others. The use of diagonally-veneered panels as a ground for this type of elaborate floral marquetry is also very consistent with the nature of his known body work.
A native Frenchman, his work is naturally both technically and stylistically much closer in nature to that of his Parisian counterparts than that of his British contemporaries, which would explain the utterly French model of this table. He did not, however, slavishly adhere to the strict rules and etiquette of the Parisian ébénistes, which allowed him to create a unique fusion of styles and technique resulting in immensely individual work. Operating from workshops at 39 Tottenham Court Road from 1759, he is known predominantly for his flamboyant rococo creations as illustrated on his trade card, which also describes in detail (and partially in French) the type of work undertaken and notes it as ‘made & inlaid in the Politest manner’. The card lists both gilt-bronze mounts and floral marquetry amongst his specialities – as seen here. He is known to have collaborated extensively with his fellow émigré metalworker (and son-in-law) Dominique Jean (d. 1807) to produce mounts for his furniture. The scheme of mounting seen here is very consistent with that seen throughout the body of work associated with Langlois, of particular note is the plain border to the top and the design of the sabot, of which close variants frequently appear, as illustrated in the series of articles ‘Pierre Langlois, Ebenesté’ by Peter Thornton and William Rieder published in Connoisseur, December 1971 – May 1972. A pair of commodes attributed to Langlois with apparently identical chutes, corner beading and a variant of the same sabot with Ronald Philips were advertised in Country Life, 13 November 2013.
The body of work attributed to Langlois is various but there are several distinctive threads which run through his known oeuvre - most notably perhaps is an almost indefinable muscularity of line, giving much of his work a presence and stature seldom achieved by others. The use of diagonally-veneered panels as a ground for this type of elaborate floral marquetry is also very consistent with the nature of his known body work.
A native Frenchman, his work is naturally both technically and stylistically much closer in nature to that of his Parisian counterparts than that of his British contemporaries, which would explain the utterly French model of this table. He did not, however, slavishly adhere to the strict rules and etiquette of the Parisian ébénistes, which allowed him to create a unique fusion of styles and technique resulting in immensely individual work. Operating from workshops at 39 Tottenham Court Road from 1759, he is known predominantly for his flamboyant rococo creations as illustrated on his trade card, which also describes in detail (and partially in French) the type of work undertaken and notes it as ‘made & inlaid in the Politest manner’. The card lists both gilt-bronze mounts and floral marquetry amongst his specialities – as seen here. He is known to have collaborated extensively with his fellow émigré metalworker (and son-in-law) Dominique Jean (d. 1807) to produce mounts for his furniture. The scheme of mounting seen here is very consistent with that seen throughout the body of work associated with Langlois, of particular note is the plain border to the top and the design of the sabot, of which close variants frequently appear, as illustrated in the series of articles ‘Pierre Langlois, Ebenesté’ by Peter Thornton and William Rieder published in Connoisseur, December 1971 – May 1972. A pair of commodes attributed to Langlois with apparently identical chutes, corner beading and a variant of the same sabot with Ronald Philips were advertised in Country Life, 13 November 2013.