Lot 1385 - A218 Works of Art & Decorative Arts - jeudi, 17. septembre 2026, 10h00
SECRÉTAIRE À ABATTANT
Louis XVI, Paris, circa 1770. Marked N. PETIT (Nicolas Petit, 1732–1791) and bearing a guild mark.
Mahogany, rosewood, amaranth, satinwood, palisander and end-grain veneer, inlaid in bastion-shaped reserves framed by bronze stringing and "à la grecque" borders. Rectangular body on a shaped apron and bracket feet. The front with canted corners; a drawer above the fall-front writing surface and a pair of doors. The drawer front decorated with a gilt-bronze Greek-key frieze, the central escutcheon in the form of a lion’s head. The fall-front and pair of doors inlaid with floral bouquets in end-grain veneer. The interior of the writing surface lined with brown, gold-tooled leather, opening to reveal four compartments and six drawers. The lower pair of doors opening to reveal two compartments, originally with a drawer (missing).
The sides likewise with bastion-shaped reserves framed by bronze friezes and applied bronze decoration, in the form of rosettes below and flower-filled vases above, standing on consoles worked in relief in the marquetry. The front corner pilaster strips applied at the top with bronze mounts comprising oval medallions bordered by laurel garlands and depicting Hercules fighting the Hydra. Red and violet speckled marble top with moulded edge.
The sides likewise with bastion-shaped reserves framed by bronze friezes and applied bronze decoration, in the form of rosettes below and flower-filled vases above, standing on consoles worked in relief in the marquetry. The front corner pilaster strips applied at the top with bronze mounts comprising oval medallions bordered by laurel garlands and depicting Hercules fighting the Hydra. Red and violet speckled marble top with moulded edge.
95 × 43(93) × 142 cm.
Restored, in good condition.
Provenance:
- By inheritance in a Swiss private collection.
A secrétaire of very similar form, with partly identical bronze mounts (the mounts to the feet and the corner mounts depicting Hercules), is illustrated in Pierre Kjellberg, "Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle", Paris 1989, p. 649. Two further secrétaires illustrated there feature very similar floral sprays (p. 646, C and p. 647, D).
CHF 15 000 / 25 000 | (€ 15 460 / 25 770)
Vendu pour CHF 20 000 (frais inclus)