Mahogany and veneered with wavy-grained and moiré Santo Domingo mahogany; chiselled and gilded bronze; grey veined white marble.
H. 102.5 cm. (40 ¼ in.); W. 99 cm. (39 in.); D. 60 cm. (23 ¾ in.).
STAMP: P. GARNIER, visible under the rear crossbar of the tray.
PROVENANCE: Sotheby’s auction in Monaco, on 23rd-24th June 1985, lot n°. 902; Galerie Kraemer, 1986.
LITERATURE: Christophe Huchet de Quénetain, Pierre Garnier, Paris, 2003, p. 82, cat. 226.
Inspired by the antique manner, the front of this chest of drawers is partitioned into three drawers framed by pilasters crowned by capitals and ending in spinning top-shaped feet. Each drawer is richly adorned: in the first row is a frieze of foliate interlacing, and in the second and third rows, a mask of Mercury holding a garland of fruit.
Born in late 1726 or early 1727, probably in Paris, Pierre Garnier was the son of François Garnier, master cabinetmaker established in the faubourg (suburb) of Saint-Antoine. He became one of the important suppliers of Madame Du Barry, official mistress of Louis XV, and also provided furniture for Françoise-Emilie de Pérusse d’Escars, marquee of Brunoy, the countess of Coigny, the cardinal Louis-René-Edouard of Rohan-Guéménée, Pierre-Charles-Antoine Maignart, marquis of La Vaupalière, the duke of Talleyrand-Périgord, as well as Louis-Sophie Le Tellier, marquis of Louvois.
