拍品专文
Martin Carlin, maître in 1766.
MARTIN CARLIN
Martin Carlin (c. 1730-1785) was born in Germany and emigrated to France, settling in Paris at the workshop of fellow German and ébéniste du roi Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763). In 1759 Carlin married Oeben’s sister and the couple took up residence in an apartment in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine neighborhood of Paris, home to many skilled Flemish and German artisans. Shortly thereafter, Carlin entered into a long standing relationship with marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier (c. 1720-1785). The partnership of Poirier and Carlin arguably produced the finest porcelain-mounted furniture of the time. Later, Poirier’s partner, Dominique Daguerre (c. 1740-1796), took over the establishment after Poirier’s retirement.
Carlin produced a number of exquisite larger works such as secretaires and commodes, but his most saleable furnishings were the small and elegant pieces such as gueridons, music stands and jewel cabinets. The fluid and elegant rinceaux marquetry seen on the undertier of the present lot relates closely to the marquetry on a music stand at the Getty Center (Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S113; 55.DA.4) as well as a work table at the Victoria & Albert Museum (Europe 1600-1815, Room 3; 1058-1882). Two further tables of almost identical model, stamped by Carlin but veneered with dot-trellis parquetry and with Sèvres porcelain tops, are recorded: the first, undoubtedly supplied by Daguerre to the Grand-Duchess Maria-Feodorovna, was sold anonymously at Christie's, Geneva, 8 May 1973, lot 61; the second, possibly also acquired from Daguerre by Francis Gilson Shepheard (d. 1807), was sold by the Trustees of the late Nicholas Meynell, Christie's, London, 9 June 1994, lot 67 (sold £419,500). For an example of this model with identical mounts, see Hotel Lambert; Sotheby’s, Paris, 13 October 2022, lot 716 (sold €189,000), previously in the collection of Dimitri Mavrommatis (Sotheby’s, London, 8 July 2008, lot 42, sold £481,250) and the Alexander Collection (Christie’s, New York, 30 April 1999, lot 150, sold $750,500).
THE ROTHSCHILDS AND PORCELAIN-MOUNTED FURNITURE
In the collections of various members of the Rothschild family Louis XV and Louis XVI Sèvres-mounted furniture was among the most prized and highly valued of their works of art. Many superb items of Sèvres-mounted furniture were collected by members of all the branches of this illustrious family, notably by Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898), whose collections now at Waddesdon Manor are amongst the finest ensembles of French 18th-century decorative arts outside France (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, London, 1974, pp. 378-385, 428-429). Other extraordinary items of Sèvres-mounted furniture from the collection of Baronne Salomon de Rothschild were bequeathed to the Louvre and are illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Paris, 1993, pp. 171 & 228.
MARTIN CARLIN
Martin Carlin (c. 1730-1785) was born in Germany and emigrated to France, settling in Paris at the workshop of fellow German and ébéniste du roi Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763). In 1759 Carlin married Oeben’s sister and the couple took up residence in an apartment in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine neighborhood of Paris, home to many skilled Flemish and German artisans. Shortly thereafter, Carlin entered into a long standing relationship with marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier (c. 1720-1785). The partnership of Poirier and Carlin arguably produced the finest porcelain-mounted furniture of the time. Later, Poirier’s partner, Dominique Daguerre (c. 1740-1796), took over the establishment after Poirier’s retirement.
Carlin produced a number of exquisite larger works such as secretaires and commodes, but his most saleable furnishings were the small and elegant pieces such as gueridons, music stands and jewel cabinets. The fluid and elegant rinceaux marquetry seen on the undertier of the present lot relates closely to the marquetry on a music stand at the Getty Center (Museum South Pavilion, Gallery S113; 55.DA.4) as well as a work table at the Victoria & Albert Museum (Europe 1600-1815, Room 3; 1058-1882). Two further tables of almost identical model, stamped by Carlin but veneered with dot-trellis parquetry and with Sèvres porcelain tops, are recorded: the first, undoubtedly supplied by Daguerre to the Grand-Duchess Maria-Feodorovna, was sold anonymously at Christie's, Geneva, 8 May 1973, lot 61; the second, possibly also acquired from Daguerre by Francis Gilson Shepheard (d. 1807), was sold by the Trustees of the late Nicholas Meynell, Christie's, London, 9 June 1994, lot 67 (sold £419,500). For an example of this model with identical mounts, see Hotel Lambert; Sotheby’s, Paris, 13 October 2022, lot 716 (sold €189,000), previously in the collection of Dimitri Mavrommatis (Sotheby’s, London, 8 July 2008, lot 42, sold £481,250) and the Alexander Collection (Christie’s, New York, 30 April 1999, lot 150, sold $750,500).
THE ROTHSCHILDS AND PORCELAIN-MOUNTED FURNITURE
In the collections of various members of the Rothschild family Louis XV and Louis XVI Sèvres-mounted furniture was among the most prized and highly valued of their works of art. Many superb items of Sèvres-mounted furniture were collected by members of all the branches of this illustrious family, notably by Ferdinand de Rothschild (1839-1898), whose collections now at Waddesdon Manor are amongst the finest ensembles of French 18th-century decorative arts outside France (G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor, London, 1974, pp. 378-385, 428-429). Other extraordinary items of Sèvres-mounted furniture from the collection of Baronne Salomon de Rothschild were bequeathed to the Louvre and are illustrated in D. Alcouffe, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Paris, 1993, pp. 171 & 228.