Page 154 - Pierre Durand Collection Including Chinese Art and Porcelain Sothebys Jan 27 2022

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A RUSSIAN TULIPWOOD, AMARANTH, AND MARQUETRY The kidney form of this table is typical of Russian examples from the 1780s.
WRITING DESK Its shape as well as the x-form stretcher is similar to a table at Hillwood
ST. PETERSBURG, CIRCA 1780 Museum, Washington, illustrated in A. Chenevière, Russian Furniture: the
Golden Age, 1780-1840, New York, 1985, p. 41, fig. 25. The marquetry inlay
The kidney-form top inlaid with urn bearing garland and scrolling foliage
within zebra-wood banding above a central drawer, and two side drawers with to the top of this table is a testament to the flourishing popularity of inlaid
writing slides, raised on tapering legs connected by a stretcher furniture in late eighteenth century St. Petersburg. With its inlay, coupled
29Ω in. (75 cm.) high, 37 in. (94 cm.) wide, 18Ω in. (47 cm.) deep with the kidney-shaped top and slender tapering legs, this lot is related
to the oeuvre on Danish-born cabinet-maker Christian Meyer, who was a
$7,000-10,000
direct supplier to the Imperial court and undoubtedly one of the foremost
PROVENANCE: cabinet-makers of his time. The particular decoration of this table reflects
The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York. the ‘English style’ marquetry favored by Meyer, who drew inspiration for
his marquetry inlay from the ornamental engravings of Michael Angelo
LITERATURE:
The Chinese Porcelain Company, Important French Furniture & Decorative Arts, Pergolesi, see T. Semenova, ‘Christian Meyer, a Marquetry Master from Saint
1643-1805, New York, 2001, pp. 49-51, no. 18. Petersburg’, in Furniture History Society Journal, vol XLVII (2011), pp. 125-
150. ‘English style’ marquetry was very popular among Meyer’s aristocratic
clientele, including his main patron, Catherine the Great.

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