Download image

3. Cartonnier with serre-papiers, bout de bureau, and clock

  • French (Paris), ca. 1740; clock movement and dial, 1746
  • Serre-papiers and bout de bureau by Bernard II van Risenburgh (French, after 1696–ca. 1766, master before 1730); clock movement by Étienne II Le Noir (French, 1699–1778, master 1717); dial enameled by Jacques Decla (French, died after 1764, active by 1742); maker of the clock case unknown
  • White oak* and poplar* veneered with, amaranth*, cherry*, and alder* and painted with European lacquer; lacquered bronze figures, gilt bronze mounts, enameled metal clock dial; glass; brass and iron hardware and lock; restorations in mahogany*
  • H: 6 ft. 3 3/4 in., W: 3 ft. 4 1/2 in., D: 1 ft. 4 1/4 in. (192 × 103 × 41 cm)
  • 83.DA.280
View in Collection

Description

The cartonnier is composed of three parts. Above is a clock set with four lacquered bronze figures. It rests on the upper surface of the serre-papiers but is not mechanically attached to it. The serre-papiers was originally fitted with five leather-fronted cardboard filing boxes, called cartons, three above and two below. It stands on short legs atop the bout de bureau. The sides of this shallow rectangular cabinet are set with locking doors, and the lower section of each canted front corner is scrolled and pierced.

The splayed front of the clock (fig. 3-1) is set with an elaborate arrangement of leafy C- and S-scrolls in gilt bronze that outline the profile of the clock and surround the viewing hole. The C- and S-scrolls are overlaid with shell motifs and set at either side with short bunches of leaves and flowers. Linked and overlapping leafy C-scrolls form the frame of the glass cover of the face. Above, a gilt bronze cloth carrying one tassel is laid over an elaborately gadrooned mount. On it are seated two boys. The boy on the left holds up a single palm frond in his left hand and points to it with his right. The lounging boy to the right leans on his left forearm and gazes up at the now-missing palm tree (see “Commentary” below). Both boys are clothed in black robes painted with flower heads and open fans bound with ribbons. Their robes are lined with red.

detail of the top of the cartonnier, showing the clock framed with gilt bronze mounts and four Chinese figures Figure 3-1
Front of the clock.

On the left shoulder of the clock case, a Chinese woman sits on a large C-scroll. Her hands cross on a tambourine that rests on her knee. Her hair is dressed in a bun from which one lock descends over her right shoulder. Her long jacket and skirt are black and painted with gold flowers, revealing a red lining. She also wears a cream-colored undershirt piped in red and gold. On the right sits a Chinese man. He holds a horn in his left hand and points to it with his right. He is mustachioed and bald. His long fur-trimmed jacket and trousers are black, painted in gold with branches of flowers. His undershirt is black, piped in red and gold.

The sides of the clock are set with broadly designed C- and S-scrolls, decorated with leaves, fluting, and shell motifs. The front of the clock is painted with eleven simple flower heads in gold. The sides are decorated with a rising leafy branch of camellia on the left and by a stem of camellia above a branch of bamboo on the right. The plain unveneered back of the clock is painted black. It is concave and set with a hinged door that occupies most of the central area and is shaped to follow the profile of that part of the case.

The top of the serre-papiers is framed with a gilt bronze molding of rosette-filled guilloche. It is set on its upper front and back corners with mounts made in two sections. The lower consists of a central flat cabochon surrounded by eight petals and leaves. These rise and overlap the upper section, which takes the form of a leafy vine with berries. The foot mount is pierced, with the opening surrounded by concave gadroons clasped at either side by foliate scrolls. Above rise two bands that follow the profile of the corner. They are set below with acanthus scrolls and lined above with bands of flame work set with cabochons. The bands are joined at the center by a striated disk set with leafy buds above and below. The upper center of the front of the serre-papiers is set with a pierced mount consisting of foliate C- and S-scrolls, edged with flame motifs and supporting a leafy flowering plant. The mounts at the sides consist of a simple shaped frame surrounding an area of European lacquer. The upper part of this frame is composed of foliate C-scrolls topped by a bat’s wing. Below this frame another band of decoration runs horizontally. It is composed of C-scrolls centered by a shell-like device below feathered wings, which extend to either side. At the lower edges of the sides of the serre-papiers asymmetrical mounts consist of two addorsed C-scrolls, the one on the left topped by a curled feather. At their juncture is a curved cabochon surrounded by leafy motifs. The frame of the open front of the serre-papiers is outlined by a plain gilt bronze molding, and the divisions between the five compartments are similarly defined.

The front of the serre-papiers, above the opening, shows flowering plants bearing a few red leaves among the gold. A scene on the left side of the serre-papiers, framed in gilt bronze, shows a rocky mound on the lower left from which grows a flowering tree carrying red fruits. Bunches of leaves and ferns grow in the ground, and a bird flies above. Above and below the framed area are arrangements of flowering plants set with grasses and some red leaves. A bird flies below. On the right side, the panel is painted with a plum tree in blossom rising from a rocky ground (fig. 3-2). A bird perches on its main branch. On the ground below is a small arrangement of leaves and ferns. The upper portion of the right side of the serre-papiers is painted with a sprig of flowering plum with some red petals. At the left a bird flies. Below the frame are two branches of a pomegranate tree bearing four fruits. Two are slit open to reveal red seeds. The interiors of the compartments are painted black.

left profile view of the cartonnier, revealing the elaborate floral gilt bronze mounts and painted lacquer foliage Figure 3-2
Left profile.

The upper edge of the bout de bureau is set with a frame of gilt bronze guilloche studded with alternating cabochons and rosettes. The upper canted corners are set with pierced mounts. The main part of each mount consists of two foliate straps separated by a flat cabochon surrounded by a cartilaginous frame. An acanthus leaf and its accompanying spike overlap the scrolled upper part of the mount. A pendant of leaves and flowers hangs below. The base of the canted corner is set with a gilt bronze bifurcated scroll that rises to form a large acanthus leaf, set with a short spike and topped by a leafy bud.

The face of the bout de bureau is set with an elaborate frame (fig. 3-3) of the same design as that found surrounding the doors of the Museum’s corner cupboards (see cat. no. 4). The moldings to either side of the central mounts of the upper and lower frame have been lengthened to give the frame the needed greater width. Mounts of this model, halved vertically, are found framing the doors at the sides of the bureau. The inner vertical side of the frame is formed by a plain molding. The keyhole is set between the meandering floral vine and the simple curved molding. There are no escutcheons. Above the short unmounted legs and the apron runs a broad molding of conforming shape to the base and the projecting canted corners. It is composed of strap work containing and supporting fleurons and buds set on a diapered ground. The apron mount, a late nineteenth-century replacement, consists of an arrangement of flowers and leafy stems held between extending leafy scrolls that follow the lower profile of the piece.

detail of the gilt bronze mounts, highlighting the elaborate floral and leafy scrolls Figure 3-3
Mount detail.

The large panel on the front of the bout de bureau depicts, on the right, two cranes and, to the left of them, a single branching stem of azalea rising in front of a double branch of daisies. The centers of the daisies, the azalea, and some of the leaves are painted red. The ground is covered with smaller flowering plants and grasses. In the upper left a bird flies, and on the right is a large dragonfly. The left side of the bout be bureau illustrates a rising daisy stem carrying six flowers, two with red centers. Above fly two butterflies. The right side shows a branch of wisteria with flowers, leaves, and tendrils. Some of the single flowers on the spurs are painted red. Above fly two more butterflies. All the remaining surfaces of the clock, serre-papiers, and bout de bureau are painted with black European lacquer.

Marks

Clock: The dial is enameled “ETIENNE LE NOIR A PARIS,” and the movement is engraved “Etienne Le Noir A Paris.” The spring of the striking train is inscribed “Buzot 9BRE 1746,” and that of the main train, “Richard Mai 1752.” The dial plate is inscribed on the front, “Edmond de Rotchild” [sic], and on the back, “Wilson / Dec 30 1839 / Jwb Oct 82.” The dial is signed in black on its reverse “decla.1746.” There are repair marks on the front plate, “M. Journe / Le 13 Nov 1971 / a Paris / F P JOURNE DEC 1976 / a Paris / Le 23 juin 1777/B.” The nineteenth-century bell is inscribed in ink, “Le[?] Dreves / [P]aris.” Some of the gilt bronze mounts are struck with the crowned C.1 The bottom of the clock is inscribed “R974.”

Serre-papiers: The top center of the back is stamped “B.V.R.B.,” and below this stamp is a brass plaque inscribed “Angela’s 1835.”

Bout de bureau: The back is stamped “B.V.R.B.” twice on the center of the top rail (fig. 3-4) and “E.J.CUVELLIER” on the right side of the rail (fig. 3-5). A torn piece of typed paper reading “M . . . xandrine de . . . ” remains attached to the back on the upper left side.

detail of the back of the cartonnier that shows a legible remnant of two faded stamps that read B.V.R.B. Figure 3-4
Center of the top rail on the back of the bout de bureau stamped “B.V.R.B.” twice.
detail of the back of the cartonnier that shows a legible remnant of an imprinted stamp that reads E.J. CUVELLIER Figure 3-5
Stamp on the upper back of the bout de bureau: “E.J.CUVELLIER.”

Commentary

The serre-papiers and the bout de bureau are by Bernard II van Risenburgh.2 This form is rarely found among the master’s surviving works. In an inventory of unfinished works drawn up in 1764, when Van Risenburgh sold his business to his son, only two serre-papiers are included, one described as with a clock.3 The total number of works is small because Van Risenburgh worked specifically at the order of marchands-merciers and not for stock or private commissions.4 One other example of the same model as the lower part, or bout de bureau, is known to exist. It is in the State Hermitage Museum and includes a serre-papiers bearing the stamp of Joseph Baumhauer and the trade label of François Charles Darnault (see cat. no. 15, fig. 15-6).5 The mounts on the lower section are of the same model as those found on the Museum’s example, with the exception of the apron mount and those at the upper forecorners and the moldings above and below. It is veneered with wave-cut marquetry on the front and with large lozenges at the sides.

A serre-papiers of the same model but unstamped is in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (fig. 3-6).6 It is simply veneered with satinwood and amaranth, and it lacks the elaborate gilt bronze mount at the center, above the openings intended for cartons. A bout de bureau and its serre-papiers stamped “B.V.R.B.” passed through the Paris art market in 1977.7 It was decorated with black and gold European lacquer. The serre-papiers, which bore the same mounts as the Museum’s example, was lower in height and fitted with five drawers with lacquered fronts. It lacked the central mount above. The bout de bureau was of the same profile but lacked the lower projecting scrolls. There were no framing mounts, but the moldings above and below were of the same model. The legs and apron were not mounted with gilt bronze. Similarly, a bout de bureau of the same size and profile as the Museum’s example was offered for sale at auction in 2006.8 It was stamped “B.V.R.B.” and bore a serre-papiers that contained a clock as part of its upper structure. The movement was signed by Louis Mynüel. It, too, lacked the scrolls at the forecorners, and the serre-papiers was of different form. The mount with a large boss or cabochon, at the center of the lower part of the frame on the front of the Museum’s bout de bureau, is here found on the apron.

three-quarter view of a dark wood cartonnier with veneer, floral gilt bronze mounts, and five filing compartments Figure 3-6
Bernard II van Risenburgh (French, after 1696–ca. 1766), Cartonnier, ca. 1750. Carcass in oak; veneer in amaranth and bois satiné, chased gilt bronze mounts, 57 × 82 × 31 cm (22.4 × 32.3 × 12.2 in.). Lisbon, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Inv. 584. © Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Calouste Gulbenkian Museum – Founder’s Collection / Photo: Catarina Gomes Ferreira

The elaborate framing mounts of the front and sides of the Museum’s bout de bureau were also used by Van Risenburgh on a pair of corner cupboards in the Museum’s collection (see cat. no. 4 and, for other occurrences, “Commentary” in that entry). The upper corners of these large mounts are very similar in design to those areas of frames placed on the front of a number of commodes stamped by Van Risenburgh.9 While it is extremely difficult to date works by this master, none of the mounts on these commodes bears the stamp of the crowned C and were probably made before 1745, when this stamp became obligatory. The mounts present on the front and sides of the Museum’s piece would appear to be a refinement of this rather heavy design, with the addition of rococo cabochons and meandering branches of flowers and leaves.

The mounts at the forecorners of the lower part of the assemblage are more rarely found. They are seen on a commode passing through the Paris market in 1922.10 The sale catalogue does not mention a stamp, but the commode, set with ten drawers with lacquer fronts, was certainly an early work by Van Risenburgh. The clock with its bronze painted figures is not physically attached to the painted top of the serre-papiers below it.11 It almost certainly was not made by Van Risenburgh; the mounts, which are of a slightly different color of gilding, are not of a model used by him. The European lacquer, consisting in the main of flower heads, does not relate to the design of the European lacquer on the sides of the serre-papiers or the main body of the piece below, nor is it painted in the same technique. It is possible that the clock was ordered by the marchand-mercier Thomas Joachim Hébert, for whom Van Risenburgh worked, from some other cabinetmaker and that he then placed it on the serre-papiers and bout de bureau, which had already been made at his request. The reverse of the dial and one of the springs are dated 1746, and some mounts bear crowned Cs.

It is possible that the serre-papiers and the bout de bureau were lacquered by a member of the Martin family.12 Freestanding cartonniers, as they are frequently termed, were almost always made en suite with a bureau plat, which would have been similarly painted or veneered and set with mounts carrying the same motifs. No such bureau plat that would have formed a companion to the Museum’s piece is known to exist. Dominique Augarde has pointed out that such an assemblage was made for the duc de Bourbon at the château de Chantilly.13 His 1740 probate inventory describes the following in his petit cabinet: “Dans un petit cabinet en suitte. [ . . . ] Item un bureau à écrire de verny ancien du Japon à pieds de biches ornés de bronze doré d’or moulu et son dessus de velour [?] vert avec son serre papier aussi de verny du Japon et une pendulle dessus faite par Jullien Le Roy à Paris dans sa boëte à pagodes de verny, le tout orné de bronze doré d’or moulu, prisez ensemble mil livres.”14 The high valuation would indicate that the serre-papiers described here was an independent piece of furniture and not merely posed on the end of the bureau plat, as was sometimes the custom. Of interest here is the description of the clock case as “à pagodes de verny.”

The Martin family of lacquerers was probably responsible for the invention of the small painted bronze Chinese figures of the sort popularly referred to as magots in the period. These are frequently found on clocks and wall lights of a slightly earlier date and are somewhat similar to those flanking the clock.15 Entries in a 1753 inventory of the belongings of the duchesse du Maine describe clocks and wall lights decorated with “pagodes de verny de Martin,” and one such clock was listed in her Cabinet de Chine at the hôtel du Maine in Paris.16 An illustration in the sale catalogue of 1922 when the Museum’s cartonnier was sold from the collection of the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts shows that the clock was then topped by a fairly large gilt bronze palm tree, the small bronze children reaching up to it. It is not known when the tree was lost. Similarly, the photograph shows that there was then no gilt bronze mount on the apron. The mount now present, which is not a Van Risenburgh model, was probably added just before the sale of the piece to the Museum in 1983.

On the back of the bout de bureau is a brass plaque inscribed “Angela’s 1835.” This certainly refers to Angela Burdett-Coutts, who was twenty-one years old in that year. She was the step-granddaughter of Harriet Beauclerk (formerly Coutts, née Mellon), Duchess of Saint Albans and her favorite. The duchess, reputedly the daughter of an Irish strolling player, had at the age of thirty-eight married the eighty-three-year-old banker Thomas Coutts in 1815. At his death seven years later she inherited his enormous wealth, making her “the richest woman in the United Kingdom.”17 Burdett-Coutts took ownership of half the banking shares of her maternal grandfather, a house on Stratton Street and its contents, Holly Lodge, and Piccadilly House.18

It is possible that the Duchess of Saint Albans received the cartonnier not from Beauclerk but from her first husband, Coutts. Apparently he was sent by George III on confidential missions abroad and spent some months in Paris. According to Edna Healey, French aristocrats brought him their “treasures” for safekeeping, and Coutts was a close friend of Philippe Égalité, duc d’Orléans.19 Angela Burdett-Coutts, apart from amassing a large art collection, used her wealth to fund numerous philanthropic schemes and charitable activities. She was created Baroness by Queen Victoria in 1871. She married three times, the last to William Bartlett in 1881, his senior by thirty-nine years, and died in 1906.

Provenance

–1751: possibly Joseph Antoine Crozat de Thugny, French, 1699–1751;20 –1768: possibly Louis Jean Gaignat, French, 1697–1768, upon his death, held in trust by the estate, 1768;21 1768–69: possibly Estate of Louis Jean Gaignat, French, 1697–1768 [sold, Paris, Pierre Rémy, February 14–22, 1769, lot 179, to Paul Louis de Mondran];22 1769– : possibly Paul Louis de Mondran, French, 1734–1795; –1835: possibly Harriet Beauclerk, duchess of St. Albans, English, 1777–1837 (London, England), by gift to her step-granddaughter, Angela Burdett-Coutts, on her twenty-first birthday, 1835;23 1835–1906: Baroness Angela Burdett-Coutts, English, 1814–1906 (London, England), by inheritance to her husband, Hon. William Bartlett Burdett-Coutts;24 1906–21: Hon. William Bartlett Burdett-Coutts MP, American, 1851–1921 (London, England), upon his death, held in trust by the estate, 1921; 1921–22: Estate of Hon. William Bartlett Burdett-Coutts MP, American, 1851–1921 (London, England) [sold, Porcelain, Objects of Art and Decorative Furniture, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, May 9, 1922, lot 144, for 4,200 guineas to H. J. Simmons]; 1922– : H. J. Simmons; –1941: Baronne Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild, French, 1884–1965 (Château de Boulogne-sur-Seine, France), confiscated by the Nazis, 1941; 1941–45: in the possession of the Nazis (Jeu de Paume Nazi holding point, April 1941, transferred to the salt mines at Altaussee, Austria, June 18, 1941), recovered by the Allied Forces, 1945;25 1945–46: in the custody of the Allied Forces (Munich Central Collecting Point, Munich, Germany), repatriated to the French government, March 27, 1946, and August 23, 1946;26 1946: French government, restituted to Baronne Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild, November 18, 1946;27 1946–65: Baronne Miriam Caroline Alexandrine de Rothschild, French, 1884–1965 (Paris, France), by inheritance to her nephew and heir, Baron Edmond Adolphe Maurice Jules Jacques de Rothschild, 1965; 1965–before 1968: Baron Edmond Adolphe Maurice Jules Jacques de Rothschild, French, 1926–1997 (Paris, France); –1968: José Ribeiro Espírito Santo Silva, Portuguese, 1895–1968 (Lausanne, Switzerland), by inheritance to his wife, Vera Lillian Morais Sarmento Cohen Espírito Santo Silva, 1968; 1968–83: Vera Lillian Morais Sarmento Cohen Espírito Santo Silva, Portuguese, 1904–1995 (Lausanne, Switzerland), sold through Didier Aaron et Cie to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1983.

Bibliography

, 193–97, no. 6, figs. 16a–e; , 5, no. 10; , 25; , 196, fig. 188; , 17–18, no. 10; , 67–68, fig. 9; , 78–85, no. 11; , 150, 152, fig. 74; , 7, no. 10; , 68, 70, figs. 2a–c.

  • G.W.

Technical Description

The carcass of the clock is made primarily of oak, which has been veneered both inside and outside with alder. The alder veneer serves to provide a smooth and fine-grained substrate for the European lacquer decoration. It is made of ten main sections of wood with the grain running from front to back, laminated together with simple butt joins and sawn to shape. The case front and back panels are glued to the sides and set into a dado cut at the forward and rear edges of the sides (fig. 3-7). The case bottom is set in dadoes cut in the front and sides of the carcass. The case back, the rear door, and the case bottom of the clock are made of mahogany. The use of mahogany for an unseen structural element would be unusual in Parisian work of the mid-eighteenth century and so may represent a later restoration and replacement. There has been significant insect damage to the rest of the clock carcass, particularly near the bottom, which may explain the replacement. The use of mahogany for unseen structural elements was, in contrast, not uncommon in the United Kingdom, particularly in the first half of the nineteenth century when mahogany was abundant and relatively inexpensive.28 For example, a copy of a Boulle clock, now at Knole House, was made in England and signed and dated by Wertheimer, 1841.29 This clock uses mahogany exclusively as secondary wood. As this clock has an English provenance from sometime before 1835 until sometime after 1922, it seems likely that the restoration dates to this period. The glass pane below the clock face appears to be a later addition. It is possible that this opening was originally covered with a textile as this would allow the sound of the clock’s striking mechanism to be heard more clearly. Unfortunately, no evidence of the original covering material could be found without extensive intervention. The mechanism of the clock has been described at length by Richardson, Wilson, and Bremer-David.30

back view of the cartonnier, revealing the attachments between the three registers: clock at the top, serre-papiers in the middle, and bout de bureau on the bottom Figure 3-7
Back.

The carcass of the serre-papiers is constructed primarily of solid poplar, sawn and filed to form. The use of poplar as a solid construction wood is quite uncommon in Parisian ebénistérie. In this case, however, the decision to use poplar saved the craftsmen considerable time and effort. As has been noted above, an even and fine-grained wood such as alder or poplar provides a smooth surface for elements that are to be lacquered. Oak, in contrast, has a coarse surface, with very large pores and irregular bands of dense and nonabsorbent rays, making the preparation of a perfectly smooth and adherent lacquered surface more difficult. In most cases, as with the clock above, Parisian ébénistes chose to fabricate their structures in oak and then veneer the surfaces to be lacquered with a smooth-grained and inexpensive domestic wood. In the case of this serre-papiers, it would appear that the difficult task of veneering the very strongly curved inside and outside surfaces (and perhaps especially the compound curvature of the upper frieze) seemed to be more trouble than it was worth. By building in solid poplar, all the surfaces of the serre-papiers could be lacquered directly without further preparation. A distinct disadvantage of building in solid poplar is that it is substantially less resistant to insect attack than oak heartwood. The results can be seen when the case is radiographed (fig. 3-8).

black and white x-ray of the left side of the middle register, revealing a number of small white dots that represent insect damage and the subsequent attempts to restore the damage with putty Figure 3-8
X-radiograph of the left side of the serre-papiers, showing extensive insect damage to the poplar structure. The damage is partly filled with a high-density restoration putty (white in image).

The curved side panels are made of two vertical boards, butt joined and connected with dovetails to the case bottom and to the primary transverse board at the top, which forms the upper surface of the top carton compartments. This transverse member is made of a single massive poplar plank, and X-ray images show that it contains the pith of the tree, a cut that is generally regarded as unstable and prone to splitting. The upper section of the serre-papiers is attached to the main boxlike structure with simple butt joins. It consists of two side rails, back and front boards, and the top, which are assembled with no joinery other than glue. The case back is made of two thin poplar boards, glued into a rabbet cut into the sides, top, and bottom of the main compartment.

In contrast to the serre-papiers, the construction of the lower case, or bout de bureau, is entirely of oak, veneered with alder. Van Risenburgh also chose alder veneer for the areas to receive European lacquer on the Museum’s commode 65.DA.4 (see cat. no. 5). The oak used for the construction of the bout de bureau is of notably high quality, almost entirely quartersawn and nearly free of knots. The structure is based on four posts of the corners, which run from the floor to just below the case top. The case back is made as a two-panel frame-and-panel construction. The cross-rails are attached to the posts at top and bottom with unpinned mortise-and-tenon joints; the vertical stile running between the top and bottom rails is similarly joined. The two panels are each composed of three boards of quartersawn oak, with a simple bevel at the edges that is placed on the rear face of the panels. The front of the case is also made as a frame-and-panel construction. However, in this case the panels are held in place with tongue-and-groove joints. In addition, the panels of the front are exceptionally thick, allowing them to be planed and scraped into an oxbow contour at the front. The entire front of the case is subsequently veneered with alder, applied on a bias, presumably to stabilize the construction and prevent splitting of the underlying glue joints.

A central partition divides the inner case in half. The partition is made of five boards of quartersawn oak fixed at front and back into grooves cut in the medial styles of the case front and case back. The case front and case back assemblies are attached to one another at the sides with rails at top and bottom, which are attached with dovetails exposed at the top of the post, and sliding dovetail joints front and back at the bottom.

The case top is made as an independent frame-and-panel construction, with two panels, each composed of two boards of quartersawn oak with the grain running from side to side. The joinery for the attachment at the top is not clearly discernible, even in X-radiography, but it would appear to rely on glued tongue-and-groove joints. The front corner scrolls are each made of separate individual pieces of wood glued and screwed to the main case. The small blocks of wood below the scrolls, which support the gilt bronze moldings, are glued to the tops of the foot blocks below, and are attached with a loose tenon (visible in X-radiography) to the scrolls above (fig. 3-9).

black and white x-ray of one of the corner scrolls, revealing the joinery that secures the gilt bronze mounts to the wooden base Figure 3-9
X-radiograph showing the loose tenon securing the corner scroll to the base.

The top of the lower case is veneered with alder applied on a bias. However, a C-shaped patch of veneer appears to have been laid into the top that goes directly underneath the sides and back of the serre-papiers. There has been extensive restoration and repainting along this veneer patch, visible most distinctly under ultraviolet illumination, though the reason for it is not entirely clear (fig. 3-10).

top of the bottom register as seen under ultraviolet light, revealing a c-shaped patch of veneer alongside the back and sides of the serre-papiers Figure 3-10
Top of the bout de bureau under ultraviolet illumination, showing the C-shaped veneer patch beneath the sides and back edge of the serre-papiers.

The apron of the lower case is constructed of three to four additional narrow boards of oak laminated to the underside of the main case rails. The doors are each made of three boards of quartersawn oak laminated together with breadboard ends, also of oak, attached with tongue-and-groove joints.

The decorative surfaces of the cartonnier, including those on the bout de bureau, the serre-papiers, the clock, and the magots figures, are executed entirely in European lacquer, without the incorporation of any Asian panels. The bout de bureau and the serre-papiers appear to be lacquered using the same system, applied in five primary layers excluding those of the decoration. Two layers of a yellow iron-containing clay ground, bound in a simple varnish of pine resin and drying oil, were applied to the alder or poplar substrate. These ground layers closely resemble the yellow-beige clay-based grounds used on Japanese lacquer, as opposed to the traditionally white gesso or pigmented varnish layers recommended in European period treatises.31 The foundation layers were then coated with two black layers of oil-resin varnish pigmented with bone black. Based on analysis by pyrolysis gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (py/GC-MS), the varnish medium of these layers is similar in composition to that of the underlying foundation layers; however, it appears to have a polycommunic diterpenoid resin component in addition to drying oil and pine resin. This additional resin, likely soft copal, may have been added to give increased hardness and gloss in order to more closely imitate Asian lacquer. Filippo Bonanni, writing in the 1730s, described his own experiments to create an amber-colored varnish of this type, “similar to the Chinese one,” that was composed of Greek pitch (colophony) and linseed oil to which he added copal.32 On the serre-papiers and bout de bureau, the pigmented varnish layers were then coated with an additional transparent varnish that contained linseed oil and pine resin.33 This system, which bears much resemblance to that used on the Van Risenburgh commode (cat. no. 5), emulates quite closely the layer structure of seventeenth-century Japanese export lacquer, substituting locally available materials for those used in Asia. This suggests that the work was carried out by a craftsman or craftsmen who had carefully studied examples of the Japanese lacquer they were attempting to imitate and who were striving to reproduce not just the appearance, but the entire manufacturing process to the best of their ability.

The raised decoration above the lacquer was created with a calcium carbonate–containing ground on which vermilion and metallic powders were applied. The decoration utilizes a wide range of metallic powders to impart several different hues to the final composition (fig. 3-11). As identified with scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), the broad surfaces of the foliate decoration, particularly the large leaf forms, appear to have been created with a low-zinc brass likely originally created from brass leaf. Four additional distinct metallic powders, with an average particle size of 10 to 20 microns, were used to add fine outlines and details in moderate-zinc brass, high-zinc brass, tin, and gold (fig. 3-12).

two photomicrographs of the layers of the painted lacquer on the middle register, one under visible light and one under ultraviolet light, revealing the metal powders used in the lacquer Figure 3-11
Cross-section photomicrograph in visible light (top) and in ultraviolet illumination (bottom) illustrating the layer structure of the European lacquer on the serre-papiers. The sample shows a mixture of gold- and silver-colored metal powders.
detail of the front of the middle register of the cartonnier, showing the elaborate painted lacquer in the form of gold and orange foliage Figure 3-12
Detail of the front of the bout de bureau.

The interior of the compartments in the serre-papiers appear to have been originally executed in red European lacquer. Red pigment from this layer is visible in small areas where the overlying black paint is flaking or damaged. This red color would not have been visible when the original cartons were in place, but when they were removed to access their contents, the red would have evoked the brightly colored interiors of many seventeenth-century Japanese export lacquer cabinets (as do the corner cabinets by Dubois in this volume that retain their red interiors; see cat. no. 12). At some time before 1922, presumably when the original cartons were separated from this serre-papiers, the interior was painted over in black.

On the clock, the European lacquer was also applied to a substrate veneered with alder; however, the stratigraphy is entirely different from that observed on the serre-papiers and the bout de bureau. Here, the lowest layer, directly on the wood, is a heavy white gesso ground, based on calcium carbonate and bound with glue. The use of a gesso ground is typically unnecessary on fine-grained veneers. Period European treatises more frequently recommend that a black pigmented layer be applied directly to the veneered support, although a wide range of techniques have been observed on period objects in practice.34 Above the gesso layer, two black pigmented layers were applied. The first consists of finely divided lamp black, bound in shellac. Over the first black layer lies a second, more transparent layer of pigmented varnish, colored with more expensive bone or ivory black pigment. The addition of this layer was likely designed to increase the apparent depth and gloss of the surface, in order to better imitate Asian lacquer.

The quality of the lacquer on the clock and its decoration are superb; however, the material composition is somewhat surprising for the period. The use of pure shellac spirit varnish was certainly known at the time; both Stalker and Parker and Bonanni provide recipes for the creation of a “black Japan” with seedlac, spirits of wine, and black pigment. Stalker and Parker specify a preference for lamp black with a reduced amount of pigment in the upper layer similar to what is observed in the cross section from the clock (fig. 3-13). While a shellac varnish could very well have been used for a black European lacquer surface in the mid-eighteenth century, Bonanni notes that after the 1667 publication of Fr. Athanasius Kircher’s shellac varnish, “all over European people tried to improve the quality of this varnish through the addition of gums, solutions, and bitumen.”35 Shellac was once believed to be the dominant resin used in European lacquer; however, modern analysis frequently detects more complicated resin mixtures,36 as seen in the bout de bureau and serre-papiers. The decoration utilizes metallic powders in brass, gold, and silver to create a great variety of hues in a range of decorative techniques. Given the excellent condition of the surface, it should be considered whether the clock has been renewed or restored. Archival photographs show that the clock, with its current decoration, has accompanied the cartonnier since at least 1922.

composite photomicrograph of the top register of the cartonnier — the clock — under ultraviolet light, revealing myriad layers of thin white streaks Figure 3-13
Composite photomicrograph in ultraviolet illumination showing the stratigraphy of the clock, which varies significantly from the body of the cartonnier.

The figures that decorate the top of the clock appear to retain their original European lacquer, consisting of eight varnish layers. This lacquer is entirely different from that on the rest of the clock. First, an oil-resin undervarnish or sealer was applied to the bronze substrate, in at least two separate applications. Based on organic analysis by py/GC-MS, the composition of these layers is very similar to the varnish used in the ground and transparent layers on the bout de bureau and the serre-papiers; it is also primarily composed of drying oil and pine resin. These preparatory layers are followed by two varnish layers of similar composition, pigmented with bone black. The black layers are coated with two additional transparent layers similar to the undervarnish, followed by decoration in vermilion and gold and silver powders (fig. 3-14). A trace amount of shellac was also detected in these decoration layers that may relate to contamination from a restoration varnish or its intentional use in the layer of metallic decoration.

cross-section of a photomicrograph of the painted lacquer under ultraviolet light, revealing four distinct layers of lacquer: two dense white layers with a dark blue, mineral layer in between and a thin mineral layer of red and dark blue on top Figure 3-14
Cross-section photomicrograph in ultraviolet illumination illustrating the buildup of lacquer layers on the pagodes beginning with the transparent undervarnish.

While the pagodes as well as the bout de bureau and the serre-papiers could have been lacquered by the Martin brothers, it is not possible to confirm this attribution based on current methods of chemical analysis.37 The Martin brothers are known to have used the materials seen in these samples, including pine resin, linseed oil, and copal,38 but these components were in widespread use at the time and are not indicative of a unique recipe. In fact, lacquers based on pine resin and linseed oil, the two dominant materials detected in the samples from the cartonnier and pagodes, are published in Italian treatises as early as 1562.39

The Martin recipe published by Jean-Félix Watin as vernis blanc au copal specifies the use of melted copal, linseed oil, and Venice turpentine.40 Another English account from 1773, purporting to reveal the recipe for vernis Martin, calls for melted copal and amber, combined with colophony and linseed oil.41 At the time Watin was writing, Venice turpentine, named for the city through which it was traded, referred to the resin of the larch tree, Larix decidua (Pinaceae).42 Larch turpentine has been confirmed in samples from other objects in the collection but does not appear in the analysis of the cartonnier. This finding is complicated by the fact that larch resin and copal are notoriously difficult to detect analytically if they have been strongly heated,43 and both recipes referred to here call for the resins to be melted and stirred with the oil over high heat. The resin component that was detected here is the less expensive, domestically harvested colophony, such as can be collected from a range of Pinaceae species.44 While the failure to detect Larix resin or copal here does not rule out the possibility of a Martin attribution, it does not support such a conclusion.

The gilt bronze mounts on all three sections of the cartonnier appear to be original and to retain old mercury gilding. The crowned C marks on the mounts of the clock are crisply and deeply struck. It is interesting to note that the bronze pagoda figures are also struck with crowned C marks on the bottoms of their feet. The figures were clearly struck before they were turned over to the lacquerer’s studio, as the lacquer fills and partly obscures the marks (fig. 3-15). Twenty-four mounts, eight different models from each section, were removed for compositional analysis by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). In addition, three measurements were made of the soldering alloy used to join separately cast elements. The mounts, with one exception, were found to have compositions common to eighteenth-century Parisian mounts, with zinc levels between 18 and 24%; tin, between 0.45 and 1.5%; and lead, between 0.8 and 2.0%. Levels of impurities in the metal, such as iron, arsenic, silver, nickel, and antimony, were also determined to be at usual levels for mounts of the period. The exceptional mount was, unsurprisingly, the center mount on the front of the base of the bout de bureau, which does not appear in the 1922 catalogue image at the time of the sale from the Burdett-Coutts collection (fig. 3-16). The brass alloy of this mount contains significantly lower levels of impurities than do eighteenth-century examples, though it is not as pure as most mounts produced in the second half of the twentieth century or the early twenty-first century. This leads to the conclusion that the mount was probably fabricated between the late nineteenth century and the middle of the twentieth century, though it could have been added to the bout de bureau at any time after 1922. This mount is also very atypical of eighteenth-century Parisian work in that the reverse side bears clear marks of the gouges used to hollow out the back side of the original wooden master model. The only other examples in this catalogue of mounts with clear gouge marks are those on the Dubois corner cabinet (see cat. no. 11), which were probably replaced in central Europe during the mid-nineteenth century.

detail of two images of a tiny stamp of the letter C topped with a crown: the black-and-white image shows a stamp found on one of the Chinese figure’s feet and the other gold-toned image shows a stamp found on one of the gilt bronze mounts on the clock Figure 3-15
Detail of the crowned C stamp on the foot of the pagode (left) and a stamp on a gilt bronze mount from the clock. The pagode was stamped before the application of the lacquer.
three-quarter view of the cartonnier as photographed in the 1920s, revealing the additional floral gilt bronze mount added to the center of the bout de bureau as well as the absence of a palm tree from the mount on the top of the clock Figure 3-16
Image of the Getty cartonnier from the sale catalogue, Porcelain, Objects of Art and Decorative Furniture, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, May 9, 1922, lot 144. Private Collection. Photo: © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images

An analysis of the mount compositions by section (clock, serre-papiers, and bout de bureau) might have been expected to show that the clock mounts, by an unknown maker, were somehow different from those on the lower sections made by Van Risenburgh. In fact, the mounts of the clock and the serre-papiers are quite similar, while the mounts of the bout de bureau seem to constitute a distinguishable group as the tin levels are notably lower than those in the other sections. This suggests that the mounts of the bout de bureau and serre-papiers were not cast from the same batch of molten metal, but perhaps more important, it highlights the fact that a certain amount of uncontrolled variability in casting alloy is to be expected even from within a single workshop, and it is not likely that differences between the production of different contemporaneous foundries can be drawn based on the study of alloys.

The central scroll mount on the front of the serre-papiers is not present on the Gulbenkian or Paris market versions of this model, mentioned in “Commentary” above. This mount is also unusual because it rather inexplicably obscures a passage of high-quality lacquer decoration. The alloy of the mount, however, matches that of the other mounts on the serre-papiers, offering no evidence that the mount is a later addition. Likewise, the quality of the chasing on this mount corresponds well with the other mounts.

As mentioned above, the framing mounts on the front of the bout de bureau are of the same model as those used by Van Risenburgh on his pair of corner cabinets in the Museum’s collection (see cat. no. 4), though they have been enlarged to fit the broad dimension of the bout de bureau. An examination of the backs of the top and bottom mounts shows clearly where sections of molding have been soldered into the middle of the mounts in order to lengthen them (fig. 3-17). The brass soldering metal used to join these and other elements is noteworthy for its highly elevated zinc levels, ranging between 33 and 37%. At these levels, the brass is almost certainly so-called spelter brass, made by adding pure zinc metal rather than by the traditional cementation process using zinc ores.45 Zinc metal was still something of a rarity in Europe in the mid-eighteenth century and would likely have come from either England or China. Spelter brass would have been more expensive than conventional cementation brass, and its use was largely restricted to higher-quality brass products like jewelry and scientific instruments.46 Obviously, soldering uses a very small amount of metal, so the additional cost must have been insignificant in comparison to the benefits of the significantly lower melting point of the alloy, which made it easier and safer to use. This type of spelter brass soldering metal is rarely, if ever, found on gilded bronzes before the mid-eighteenth century.

three details of one of the gilt bronze mounts from the bout de bureau: one from the front revealing the bright gilding, one from the back revealing the underlying bronze, and one zoomed-in image of the back revealing where the mount was soldered to reduce its length Figure 3-17
Details, front and rear, of the upper right framing mount of the front of the bout de bureau. The central section has been soldered in to lengthen the original, shorter mount for use on the broad front of the bout.
  • A.H.,
  • J.C.
  • and M.S.

Notes

  1. For more information on the clock and for images of the marks, see , 78–85, no. 11. ↩︎

  2. In the eighteenth century this form of furniture was sometimes referred to as a bout de bureau with its serre-papiers. On the other hand, the word cartonnier was frequently used to denote not only the serre-papiers but also the complete object. For clarity, the former terminology is used in this entry. ↩︎

  3. Paris, Archives nationales de France, Minutier central, XXVIII, 389, October 18, 1764, sale of the shop’s assets and its sublease, Bernard van Risenburgh and his wife to their son. This inventory was published in , 323–24, and partially transcribed in , 199. According to the terminology alluded to in the previous note, it is possible that “serre-papiers” could describe a form that included a bout de bureau. ↩︎

  4. , 184–85. ↩︎

  5. See , 189 and no. 93. The serre-papiers is stamped “Joseph,” for Joseph Baumhauer, and it bears the trade label of Darnault. The bout de bureau is stamped “B.V.R.B.,” for Bernard II van Risenburgh. It was acquired by the State Hermitage Museum in 1933 from the École Stieglitz (acc. no. 434 M6). According to correspondence between the author and Tamara Rappe in December 1991, a letter of 1745 exists from Count Vorontsov to his Paris agent saying that Catherine II had taken his serre-papiers and that he needed to order another, indicating that this example, which originally stood in Catherine’s palace at Oranienbaum, is the one made for Vorontsov. However, the presence of crowned Cs on its mounts indicates that the piece cannot have been made earlier than 1745. It is possible that it was sent to Saint Petersburg as soon as it was finished and immediately seized by Catherine, prompting the letter of this date. After undertaking further research, Rappe believes that the Hermitage serre-papiers was neither the one taken from Vorontsov by Catherine the Great nor the replacement ordered by Vorontsov but rather one delivered to the cabinet doré of the Palais Chinois at Oranienbaum in August 1765 by the merchant François Rembert. See , esp. 206, fig. 1; see also , 52, no. 14. ↩︎

  6. , 161, no. 13, inv. no. 584 (H: 57 x W: 82 x D: 31 cm). Purchased from B. Fabre et Fils of Paris in 1928. ↩︎

  7. Ader Picard Tajan, Objets d’art et de très bel ameublement principalement du XVIIIe siècle, March 22, 1977 (Paris: Ader Picard Tajan, 1977), lot 114 (H: 135.5 x W: 94 x D: 40 cm). ↩︎

  8. Sotheby’s, A Private European Residence: French & Neoclassical Furniture, Paintings & Works on Paper, March 3, 2006 (London: Sotheby’s, 2006), lot 336. ↩︎

  9. For a commode of this form, veneered with Coromandel lacquer in the Sheafer Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. no. 1974.356.189), see , 186–87, fig. 84, where the piece is dated 1740–45. A similarly mounted commode set with end cut floral marquetry was sold at Sotheby’s London on February 24, 1956, and is illustrated in , 78, no. 2. Another, with shaped panels of marquetry and stamped with the mark of the château de Bellevue, was sold by Couturier Nicolay at Drouot, November 18–19, 1981, no. 87. It was exhibited by the Galerie Perrin at the exhibition De Versailles à Paris: Le destin des collections royales held at the mairie du Ve arrondissement (exhibition catalogue of the same title, , 242, no. 75). Other commodes of this form, similarly mounted, have appeared at auction in New York, London, and Paris on numerous occasions in the second half of the twentieth century and in the first decade of the twenty-first. ↩︎

  10. Galerie Georges Petit, Tableaux anciens, aquarelles, dessins, gouaches, pastels, anciens et modernes, gravures, May 8, 1922 (Paris: Galerie Georges Petit, 1922), lot 260, from the collection of the marquise de Ganay. Also see , 133, fig. 46e. ↩︎

  11. See note 1 above. ↩︎

  12. For information on the Martin family of lacquerers, see , 96–121; . ↩︎

  13. Correspondence with the author, August 16, 1994, in the files of the Sculpture and Decorative Arts Department, J. Paul Getty Museum. ↩︎

  14. Paris, Archives nationales de France, Minutier central, XCII, 504, February 17, 1740, probate inventory of Louis Henri de Bourbon, prince of Condé. I thank Dominique Augarde for providing this information in our correspondence; see note 13 above. ↩︎

  15. On the Martin brothers’ creation of such figures, see . See also . ↩︎

  16. , esp. 67 n. 51. See also . For a similar object, see also a pair of bronze and silver figures holding baskets of sugarcane by Étienne Simon Martin and Guillaume Martin in the Museum’s collection (88.DH.127). ↩︎

  17. In 1827 Harriet Mellon married William Beauclerk, ninth Duke of St. Albans. ↩︎

  18. For further information on the Coutts family, see , 1–16; ; . See also Christie’s, Important Silver and Objects of Vertu, April 15, 1997 (New York: Christies, 1997), lot 280 (in the text of the sale catalogue). ↩︎

  19. , 24. ↩︎

  20. Inventory after the death of Joseph Antoine Crozat de Thugny, January 12, 1751, item 397 (Paris, Archives nationales de France, Minutier central, XXX, 320): “397. Item un serrepapier de bois de vernis de la Chine en deux corps garnis d’ornement de cuivre doré d’or moulu prisé deux cent libres cy.” ↩︎

  21. Sealing of the estate of Louis Jean Gaignat at his death, April 11, 1768 (Paris, Archives nationales de France, Y 13961): “Nous avons apposés nos scellés et cachets de nos armes sur les bouts et extrémités de trois bandes de papiers appliquées sur les trois tiroirs et sur le dessus de bureau dudit Sr. Gaignat étant dans ledi Cabinet lesquels tiroirs nous avons fermé avec la clef restée en nos mains.” ↩︎

  22. “Un Bureau de Cabinet et son serre-papier d’ancien laque, son noir à paysages & oiseaux, en or de relief encadrés d’ornements de bronze doré. Le support du serre-papier & les frises du Bureau sont vernis, fond noir, par Martin: les autres bronzes très très riches & très bien ciselés. Ce bureau a 5 pieds et demi de long, sans comprendre le serre-papier.” 1,500 livres to “De Mondran.” ↩︎

  23. . ↩︎

  24. Christie, Manson & Woods, “The Collection of . . . the late Baroness Burdett-Coutts . . . Now sold by Order of the Executors of the Rt. Hon. W. Burdett-Coutts, M.P.,” Porcelain, Objects of Art and Decorative Furniture, May 9, 1922 (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1922). ↩︎

  25. National Archives and Record Administration (National Archives at College Park, Maryland), Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg card for R 910 (M1943 RG260 Reel 18); Koblenz (Germany), Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives), B323/280. https://www.errproject.org/jeudepaume/card_view.php?CardId=17974; https://www.fold3.com/image/306259135; https://www.fold3.com/image/306259149. ↩︎

  26. Berlin, Deutsches Historisches Museum, database on Munich Central Collecting Point for Munich numbers 22082 and 22382; Koblenz (Germany), Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives), B323/625. https://www.dhm.de/datenbank/ccp/dhm_ccp_add.php?seite=6&fld_1=22382; https://www.dhm.de/datenbank/ccp/dhm_ccp_add.php?seite=6&fld_1=22082; https://www.fold3.com/image/312508775; https://www.fold3.com/image/312508778. ↩︎

  27. National Archives and Record Administration (National Archives at College Park, Maryland), Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg card for R 910 (M1943 RG260 Reel 18). https://www.errproject.org/jeudepaume/card_view.php?CardId=17974. ↩︎

  28. , 119–47. ↩︎

  29. The clock is published in . ↩︎

  30. . ↩︎

  31. , 59; , 889–91. ↩︎

  32. , 47. ↩︎

  33. Traces of shellac were also noted in the uppermost layer, likely relating to later restoration coatings. ↩︎

  34. . ↩︎

  35. , 419; , 19–20; , 10–11. ↩︎

  36. , 24; ; ; , 121–22; ; . ↩︎

  37. ; . ↩︎

  38. These materials were all noted in the after-death inventories noted in . ↩︎

  39. . ↩︎

  40. , 238. ↩︎

  41. . ↩︎

  42. . ↩︎

  43. . ↩︎

  44. . ↩︎

  45. . ↩︎

  46. . ↩︎

Bibliography

Alcouffe 1995
Alcouffe, Daniel, ed. Musée du Louvre, Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d’art: 1990–1994. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1995.
Alcouffe 1974
Alcouffe, Daniel. “Hôtel de la Monnaie, Louis XV: Un moment de perfection de l’art français.” La Revue du Louvre et des Musées de France 24, no. 6 (1974): 457–67.
Anonymous 1819
Anonymous. Authentic Memoirs of the Lives of Mr. And Mrs. Coutts. London: J. Fairburn, 1819.
Augarde 1987
Augarde, Jean-Dominique. “1749, Joseph Baumhauer, ébéniste privilégié du Roi.” L’Estampille, no. 204 (June 1987): 15–45.
Birioukova 1974
Birioukova, Nina. Les arts appliqués de l’Europe occidentale, XIIe–XVIIIe siècles. Leningrad: Aurora, 1974.
Bonanni 2009
Bonanni, Filippo. Techniques of Chinese Lacquer: The Classic Eighteenth-Century Treatise on Asian Varnish. Translated by Flavia Perugini. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009.
Bowett 2012
Bowett, Adam. Woods in British Furniture-Making 1400–1900: An Illustrated Historical Dictionary. Wetherby, U.K.: Oblong Creative, 2012.
Bremer-David et al. 1993
Bremer-David, Charissa, et al. Decorative Arts: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1993.
Charles 1989
Charles, Jacques, ed. De Versailles à Paris: Le destin des collections royales. Exh. cat. Paris: Centre culturel du Panthéon, 1989.
Colby 1966b
Colby, Reginald. “Eminent Banker in the Strand: Thomas Coutts and His Family ̶ II.” Country Life 139, no. 3617 (June 30, 1966): 1712–14.
Colby 1966a
Colby, Reginald. “Secrets of a Royal Banker: Thomas Coutts and His Family ̶ I.” Country Life 139, no. 3616 (June 23, 1966): 1644–46.
Coutinho 1999
Coutinho, Maria Isabel Pereira. 18th-Century French Furniture. Lisbon: Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, 1999.
Czarnocka, Lindgren, and Stein 1994
Czarnocka, Anna, Laura Lindgren, and Renata Stein. “Vernis Martin: The Lacquerwork of the Martin Family in Eighteenth-Century France.” Studies in the Decorative Arts 2, no. 1 (1994): 56–74.
Dossie 1758
Dossie, Robert. The Handmaid to the Arts. London: J. Nourse, 1758.
Fioravanti 1564
Fioravanti, Leonardo. Del compendio dei secreti rationali, diviso in libri cinque. Venice: Andrea Ravenoldo, 1564.
Forray-Carlier and Kopplin 2014
Forray-Carlier, Anne, and Monika Kopplin, eds. Les secrets de la laque française: Le vernis Martin. Paris: Les Arts Décoratifs, 2014.
Frégnac and Meuvret 1965
Frégnac, Claude, and Jean Meuvret. French Cabinetmakers of the Eighteenth Century. Paris: Hachette, 1965.
Genuine Receipt 1773
Genuine Receipt for Making the Famous Vernis Martin or, as It Is Called by the English, Martin’s Copal Varnish. Paris, 1773.
Healey 1978
Healey, Edna. Lady Unknown: The Life of Angela Burdett-Coutts. London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1978.
Heginbotham 2013
Heginbotham, Arlen. “Bronzes Dorés: A Technical Approach to Examination and Authentication of French Gilt Bronze.” In French Bronze Sculpture: Materials and Techniques 16th–18th Century, edited by David Bourgarit, Jane Bassett, Francesca Bewer, Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Philippe Malgouyres, and Guilhem Scherf, 150–65. London: Archetype, 2013.
Huth 1971
Huth, Hans. Lacquer of the West: The History of a Craft and an Industry, 1550–1950. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971.
Kisluk-Grosheide 2002
Kisluk-Grosheide, Daniëlle. “The Reign of Magots and Pagods.” Metropolitan Museum Journal 37 (2002): 177–97.
Koller and Baumer 2000
Koller, Johann, and Ursula Baumer. “An Investigation of the ‘Lacquers of the West’: A Methological Survey.” In Japanische und europäische Lackarbeiten = Japanese and European Lacquerware: Adoption, Adaptation, Conservation, edited by Michael Kuhlenthal, 339–48. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, 2000.
Koller, Schmid, and Baumer 1997
Koller, Johann, Emilia Schmid, and Ursula Baumer. “Baroque and Rococo Transparent Varnishes on Wood Surfaces: I. A Scientific Study.” In Baroque and Rococo Lacquers, edited by Katharine Walch and Johann Koller, 160–97. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege, 1997.
Koller et al. 1997
Koller, Johann, Ursula Baumer, Dietger Grosser, and Katharine Walch. “Turpentine, Larch Turpentine, and Venetian Turpentine.” In Baroque and Rococo Lacquers, edited by Katharine Walch and Johann Koller, 359–78. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, 1997.
Langenheim 2003
Langenheim, Jean H. Plant Resins: Chemistry, Evolution, Ecology, and Ethnobotany. Portland, OR: Timber Press, 2003.
Le Hô et al. 2014
Le Hô, Anne-Solenn, Céline Daher, Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet, Yannick Vandenberghe, Jean Bleton, Myrtho Bonnin, Léa Drieu, et al. “French Lacquers of the 18th Century and Vernis Martin.” In ICOM-CC 17th Triennial Conference Preprints, Melbourne, 15–19 September 2014, 8. Paris: International Council of Museums, 2014.
Lewallen 2009–10
Lewallen, Nina. “Architecture and Performance at the Hôtel du Maine in Eighteenth-Century Paris.” Studies in the Decorative Arts 17, no. 1 (2009–10): 2–32.
Pitthard et al. 2011
Pitthard, Václav, Richard Stone, Sabine Stanek, Martina Griesser, Claudia Kryza-Gersch, and Helene Hanzer. “Organic Patinas on Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes: Interpretation of Compositions of the Original Patination by Using a Set of Simulated Varnished Bronze Coupons.” Journal of Cultural Heritage 12, no. 1 (March 1, 2011): 44–53.
Pradère 1989a
Pradère, Alexandre. French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1989.
Rappe 1993
Rappe, Tamara. “The History of the Furniture Collections in the Hermitage.” Furniture History 29 (1993): 205–16.
Rappe 2016
Rappe, Tamara. Un siècle d’élégance française: A Century of French Elegance (at Paris, Biennale des Antiquaires). Exh. cat. Dijon: Éditions Faton, 2016.
Richardson, Wilson, and Bremer-David 1998
Richardson, John Adkins, Gillian Wilson, and Charissa Bremer-David. “European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 32, no. 4 (1998): 112–16.
Rowell and Burchard 2016
Rowell, Christopher, and Wolf Burchard. “François Benois, Martin-Eloi Lignereux and Lord Whitworth: Leasing, Furnishing and Dismantling the British Embassy in Paris during the Peace of Amiens, 1802–03.” Furniture History 52 (2016): 181–213.
Salmon et al. 1701
Salmon, William, Pierre-Jean Fabre, A. and J. Churchill, and John Nicholson. Polygraphice, or, The Arts of Drawing, Engraving, Etching, Limning, Painting, Vernishing, Japaning, Gilding, &c. : In Two Volumes. 8th ed. London: A. and J. Churchill and J. Nicholson, 1701.
Sassoon and Wilson 1986
Sassoon, Adrian, and Gillian Wilson. Decorative Arts: A Handbook of the Collections of the J. Paul Getty Museum. Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1986.
Stalker and Parker 1688
Stalker, John, and George Parker. A Treatise of Japaning and Varnishing: Being a Compleat Discovery of Those Arts, with the Best Way of Making All Sorts of Varnish for Japan, Wood, Prints, or Pictures . . . Oxford: Stalker and Parker, 1688.
Walch 1997
Walch, Katharina. “Baroque and Rococo Transparent Gloss Lacquers: I. The Replication of White Lacquers on the Basis of Historic Sources and Scientific Examination” and “Baroque and Rococo Red Lacquers: The Red Lacquer-work in the Miniaturenkabinett of the Munich Residenz. Replicating the Technique on the Basis of Historic Sources and Scientific Inverstigation.” In Lacke des Barock und Rokoko = Baroque and Rococo Lacquers, edited by Katharine Walch and Johann Koller, 21–52 and 129–44. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, 1997.
Watin 1773
Watin, Jean-Félix. L’art du peintre, doreur, vernisseur: Ouvrage utile aux artistes & aux amateurs qui veulent entreprendre de peindre dorer & vernir toutes sortes de sujets en bâtimens, meubles, bijoux, equipages, &c. 2nd rev. ed. Paris: Grangé, 1773.
Watson 1786
Watson, Richard. Chemical Essays. Vol. 4. Cambridge: J. Archdeacon, 1786.
Webb 2000
Webb, Marianne. Lacquer Technology and Conservation: A Comprehensive Guide to the Technology and Conservation of Both Asian and European Lacquer. Butterworth-Heinemann Series in Conservation and Museology. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000.
Wilson, Sassoon, and Bremer-David 1984
Wilson, Gillian, Adrian Sassoon, and Charissa Bremer-David. “Acquisitions Made by the Department of Decorative Arts in 1983.” J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 12 (1984): 173–224.
Wilson and Hess 2001
Wilson, Gillian, and Catherine Hess. Summary Catalogue of European Decorative Arts in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2001.
Wilson et al. 1996
Wilson, Gillian, David Harris Cohen, Jean Nérée Ronfort, Jean-Dominique Augarde, and Peter Friess. European Clocks in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1996.
Wolvesperges 2001
Wolvesperges, Thibaut. “À propos d’une pendule aux magots en vernis Martin du musée du Louvre provenant de la collection Grog-Carven.” Revue du Louvre 51, no. 4 (October 2001): 66–78.
Wolvesperges 2000
Wolvesperges, Thibaut. Le meuble français en laque au XVIIIe siècle. Paris: Éditions de l’Amateur, 2000.