A rare pair of "entre-deux" cabinets in Boulle marquetry, th - Lot 249

A rare pair of "entre-deux" cabinets in Boulle marquetry, the first part in brass on a brown tortoiseshell base, richly decorated with foliate scrolls and reserves in which a mascaron is inscribed on the doors. Rectangular in shape, they each open with a leaf revealing three ebony-veneered drawers embellished with a double brass fillet; they rest on four sheathed legs joined by an X-shaped strut; small "toupies" feet. Chased bronze ornamentation with acanthus friezes, molded frames, masks, rings and sabots. Stamped twice each by Joseph for Joseph Baumhauer. Griotte red marble tops. Early Louis XVI period (minor scratches and restorations, the mascarons have been replaced in the model). H: 88.5 - W: 69 - D: 41.5 cm. Provenance : Sale Claude-François Julliot (1727-1794), Paris, November 20, 1777, lot 719, acquired by Charles-Louis de Beauchamp comte de Merle (1723-1793). Sale of the collection of the comte de Merle, Paris, March 1, 1784, lot 213, acquired 1400 livres by "Gilbert de". Collection of Pierre-Paul Gilbert de Voisins (1748-1793) husband of Anne-Marie de Merle de Beauchamp (1751-1801). Galerie Aveline, Paris. Particularly appreciated during the reign of Louis XIV, furniture in metal marquetry known as "Boulle" lost almost all interest in its manufacture in the first part of the reign of Louis XV, during which the rocaille taste dominated. With the revival of Parisian decorative arts at the end of the 1750s and the beginning of the following decade, certain merchants and cabinetmakers, encouraged by powerful collectors, revived the manufacture of furniture decorated with "Boulle" marquetry, creating works of the highest quality, sometimes reusing marquetry panels taken from older furniture, all entrusted to the best craftsmen of the time. Adam Weisweiler, for example, tried his hand at marquetry on a commode embellished with pietra dura panels (illustrated in A. Gonzales-Palacios, I nuovi quaderni dell'Antiquariato, Mosaici e Pietre dure, Edtions Fabri, Milan, 1991, p.49); as well as Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798), who produced several cabinets of this type (see a model reproduced in P. Kjellberg, Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Dictionnaire des ébénistes et des menuisiers, Les éditions de l'Amateur, Paris 2002, p.574) and Joseph Baumhauer, who, in the late 1760s or early 1770s, created the pair of cabinets we offer, most likely at the request of the dealer Claude-François Julliot, since they appear in his 1777 sale. Thus, in November 1777, at the time of the sale of the merchant Julliot's business following the death of his wife, were described under lot 719: "Deux corps d'armoire, à quatre pieds quarrés à gaîne entre-jambes, de marqueterie de Boule, première partie, ouvrant à un battant quarré long, fermant trois tiroirs plaqués en ébène à bandes de cuivre lisse ; the entablature is trimmed with parsley leaf moldings, the frame panels with mascaron support on two of the fronts other ormolu accessories, with their Italian cherry marble top; length, 25 inches 6 lines, height, 33 inches 2 lines, depth, 15 inches 3 lines", they were sold for 749 livres to the Comte de Merle. A few years later, on March 1, 1784, the Comte de Merle was obliged to part with his collections. A sale was organized at the Hôtel de Bullion by Alexandre-Joseph Paillet and Philippe-François Julliot, and the cabinets were presented under number 213: "Deux corps d'Armoire, à quatre gaînes quarrées, à entre-jambes de marqueterie, de Boule, de première partie, ouvrant à un battant quarré long, fermant trois tiroirs plaqués en ébène à bandes de cuivre lisse : l'entablement est garni de moulures à feuilles de persil, les panneaux de cadres avec mascaron à support sur ceux du devant, les gaînes le sont du chapiteau, en base de profil uni, de boules de bronze doré, avec leur dessus de marbre de griotte d'Italie : longueur 25 pouces 6 lignes, hauteur 33 pouces 2 lignes, profondeur 15 pouces 3 lignes/Ces deux morceaux d'un bon genre de marqueterie, sont estimables par le composé régulier de leur forme de leurs ornements ". In the margin of the catalog of the copy preserved at the Getty Research Institute, we can read the auction price "1399-19" and the buyer "Gilbert de", at the beginning of the same copy is a handwritten list of lots with prices and buyers, for lot 213 we can read "1400 (livres) Gilbert de Voisin". Thus, the cabinets were sold to the son-in-law of the Comte de Merle, who kept them until the end of the 19th century.