Page 70 - Pierre Durand Collection Including Chinese Art and Porcelain Sothebys Jan 27 2022

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AN EMPIRE ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY, AMARANTH,
CITRONNIER AND MARQUETRY SECRETAIRE A ABBATANT
BY CHARLES-JOSEPH LEMARCHAND, CIRCA 1805
The rectangular brocatelle d'espagne marble top above a frieze mounted
with fruiting tazza, and flaming vessels, with caryatid supports, the fall front
opening to eight drawers and tooled green leather writing surface, with
marquetry frieze of classical motifs, supported on winged term monopodia
and mirrored back, stamped LEMARCHAND twice to underside of base
50¡ in. (128 cm.) high, 35æ in. (91 cm.) wide, 16Ω in. (42 cm.) deep
$20,000-40,000
PROVENANCE: With its ormolu-mounted mahogany front opening to a whimsically-inlaid
The Chinese Porcelain Company, New York. satinwood interior, the secrétaire à abattant offered here is an archetypical
work produced by Lemarchand in the early 1800s. During the Consulat and
LITERATURE:
The Chinese Porcelain Company, Important Continental Furniture and Chinese early Empire periods Lemarchand produced an array of case furnishings that
Export Porcelain, New York, 2000, pp. 56-59, no. 19. share a number of decorative elements with this lot; these include the very
clear outlines, the ormolu herm mounts, the figural marquetry in Pompeian
Charles-Joseph Lemarchand, maître in 1789. taste, the winged monopodia legs, and the use of contrasting secondary
timbers. Comparable examples from Lemarchand’s oeuvre include a bonheur
A contemporary of Bernard Molitor and working in a similar style, Charles- du jour of similar form and ormolu mounts, sold Christie’s, Paris, December
Joseph Lemarchand was one of the most popular cabinet makers of post- 7, 2005, lot 87; an ebony-inlaid citronnier commode with partially identical
revolutionary Paris. Charles-Joseph’s atelier was taken over by his son Louis- marquetry and comparable patinated bronze herms, see D. Ledoux-Lebard,
Edouard, who was an inventive craftsman and successful businessman, Le Mobilier Français du XIXè Siècle, Paris, 1984, p. 413; and a citronnier
securing a number of commissions during the Bourbon restoration and secrétaire of identical form and mirrored lower section, with the same
delivered pieces for Saint-Cloud, Trianon, and the Tuilleries. monopodia legs and herm busts and similar Pompeian-style marquetry
executed in ebony, see ibid. p. 412.