It's not common to think of Japanese and French fusion in many fields, especially within culture and furniture. However, during the 1600s and 1700s, the merging of Japanese art and lacquer with French-made furniture was all the rage. The technique evolved over time until it reached its zenith during the reign of King Louis XV.
Some of these works were just auctioned by Christie’s New York on 12 December 2024, for their L’Art du Luxe: Masterpieces of French Furniture sale, which totaled around US$9.76 million. Among the top ten selling lots, four were of this rare Japanese-French hybrid furniture style, including the sale’s most expensive item.
The top lot was a commode that featured ebony wood paneling combined with gold lacquer extracted from Japanese pieces of art and furniture, all merged into a Neoclassical style. It sold for US$819,000 and was accompanied by various other pieces of furniture and interior decorations from France’s age of monarchy.
Lot 73 | Claude Charles Saunier (1735-1807) | A Late Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Japanese Lacquer and Ebony Commode
Circa 1765, the Japanese Lacquer, 17th century
93 x 11 x 55 cm
Provenance:
- Almost certainly supplied to Louise-Jeanne de Durfort, duchesse de Mazarin (1735-1781) for her bedroom in the château de Chilly-Mazarin, and subsequently described in the catalogue drawn up after her death in 1781 under lot 385 as follows: 'une commode de laque noir, avec des oiseaux de relief en or, composée d'un grand tiroir et de neuf petits, avec entrée de serrure & ornements de cuivre doré, & à dessus de marbre d'Italie'
- Acquired at the sale of her collection held between August 1784 and March 1785 by Sieur Chevalier for 408 Livres
- Reputedly subsequently acquired by Jean-Joseph de Laborde
- Alice Halphen, nee Koenigswarter (Mme. Fernand Halphen), Paris
- Confiscated by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg from the above and transferred to the Jeu de Paume via the German Embassy in Paris (ERR no. HAL 53), 9 July 1940
- Transferred to the Nazi depot at Neuschwanstein, then shipped to Lager Peter, Alt Aussee, Austria
- Repatriated to France, 19 October 1945 and restituted to Alice Halphen, 15 February 1946
- Georges Halphen, by descent from above
- Acquired from Galerie Kugel, Paris
Estimate: US$300,000 - 500,000
Hammer Price: US$650,000
Sold: US$819,000
In 1543 Portugal made contact with Japan, and almost immediately trade between Europe and Japan would start. All manner of goods would be exchanged, including furniture. In the 1700s, this import of Japanese and other Asian goods by European nobility morphed into the steady hybridization of Asian design into European furniture.
Before this, in the late 1600s, these elegant Japanese cabinets were haphazardly stuck onto elaborate Western stands. Little attention was paid to seamless integration and design elegance during this period. It wasn’t until the reign of Louis XV that specialists known as marchands-merciers began taking apart the Japanese lacquer cabinets and incorporating the original Japanese components into the European-built furniture pieces, creating a seamless transition between the styles.
In the case of commodes, which the French define as an elaborate chest of drawers, Japanese cabinets would be directly integrated into the chest just like other pieces of furniture. This lot in particular just utilized the lacquer, integrating it onto a larger chest, preserving the design on the ebony wood paneling.
This style of furniture hybridization often meant that the Japanese components of the pieces were older and reused from already owned Japanese furniture. In the case of this lot, while in its current form, the furniture piece originated in 1765, the Japanese lacquer components originated in the 17th century, meaning that it predates the actual commode by at least six-and-a-half decades.
What sets this commode apart from others is its practicality and pedigree. Firstly, compared to other commodes, it has more drawers. Other commodes found today don't have this many drawers and in fact, all were fairly similar and uniform in nature, due to the practicalities of such complex furniture design, and due to the style choices of the period.
This is strange because the imported components from China and Japan were all around the same size, being around 110 cm in width. This along with the fact that this period in furniture design emphasized clean and simple Neoclassical designs, meant that many commodes all looked the same. The increased amount of drawers on this one compared to others helps it stand out, as ten-drawer commodes were uncommon.
Furthermore, this specific commode comes with a specific pedigree, as it came from one of the best-known cabinet makers of the era, Claude-Charles Saunier. Much of his work was highly praised for integrating Japanese design, and it continues to set the standard for this form of furniture production to this day, with some of his work being exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
The ten-drawer design of the commode. This was highly uncommon and the amount of people during the era who owned such massive commodes can be isolated to a distinct few
Claude-Charles Saunier | Commode (Circa 1780-1790), 92.1 x 106 x 48.9 cm | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
Additionally, regarding its provenance, the piece would have belonged to a very small elite group within the French upper class who specifically had a taste for ten-drawer commodes, a rarity at the time, with the furniture becoming even rarer as during the French Revolution many of these pieces were seized and destroyed.
This lot is believed to have been supplied to Louise-Jeanne de Durfort, Duchesse de Mazarin, a French aristocrat famous for her amassing of artwork and other fine objects, including this commode. It was part of her home collection held at the château de Chilly-Mazarin in Paris. When she passed in 1871, much of her property was put up for auction, including this commode, which was in her bedroom and was sold for 240 livres on 10 December 1781.
Her collection was particularly famed for its Japanese lacquer collection, with her opening a hotel in Paris specifically supplied with various Japanese-French hybrid pieces; some of the works here are now part of the British Royal collection. Other pieces from the Duchesse can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Louvre, and the Frick Collection.
Jean-Marc Nattier (1685-1766) | Madame de La Porte (1754), 80.8 x 64.1 cm | Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
A present image of the château de Chilly-Mazarin in Paris, where the commode would've been held
Lot 89 | Joseph Baumhauer | A Late Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Ebony and Japanese Lacquer Occasional Table
Crica 1770
65.5 x 41 x 32 cm
Provenance:
- Supplied to Louise-Jeanne de Durfort, Duchesse de Mazarin (1735-1781)
- Recorded in 1781 in the grand salon de réception in her hôtel on the quai Malaquais
- Her sale, 10 December 1781, lot 223 (to Dubois)
- Anonymous sale; Orléans, 17 June 1972
- Acquired from Kraemer, Paris
Estimate: US$200,000 - 400,000
Hammer Price: US$255,000
Sold: US$321,300
Another Japanese-French hybrid piece of furniture, this bureau was made by Joseph Buamhauer, also for the Duchesse de Mazarin, the first owner of the prior commode, who also specially commissioned this piece of furniture to become a part of her collection and to be used as part of her rather luxurious lifestyle. While both lots were made by two different people, both lots combined Japanese lacquer with ebony wood, thus stylistically matching the Duchess’ collection.
However, what really sets this lot apart is the top side of the table. Unlike the other lot from her collection presented here, this one contains a lacquer panel on the top facing upwards. This was incredibly rare, with few pieces containing something like this. This made the piece unique, even more so than the ten-drawer configuration. As such, when the sale of the Duchess’ property took place in 1871, this lot sold for much more than its larger counterpart, going for 301 livres.
The top of the table, with its very unique and rare Japanese lacquer integrated into it
As for the Duchess herself, she was the daughter-in-law of another famous French collector, Menus-Plaisirs Louis-Marie-Augustin, Duc d’Aumont (1708-1782). Like her father-in-law, the Duchess patronized a small group of artisanal craftsmen to produce works for her.
She also lived a charmed life in Paris, hosting a series of events that were seen as the most extravagant in the city. This included one event held in the early 1770s that cost a reputed 80,000 livres. She also ran a hôtel, which she remodeled several times under the guidance of some of France's most famous architects at the time. Much of the furniture that went into that hotel would later find itself in other collections over the years, including some coming to be owned by the Rothschild family.
Lot 62 | Joseph Baumhauer (1747-1772) | A Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Japanese Lacquer Bureau Plat
Circa 1760
72.5 x 113 x 57.5 cm
Provenance:
- With Etienne Levy, Paris
- Pierre Jourdan-Barry (1926-2016)
- Acquired from Galerie Kugel, Paris
Estimate: US$600,000 - 1,000,000
Hammer Price: US$480,000
Sold: US$604,800
As for the famed Joseph Baumhauer he was considered one of the greatest furniture producers of the period, and considered possibly the premier furniture maker during the twilight of the French monarchy before its collapse during the French Revolution. This is best evidenced by his illustrious list of clients that like the Duchess de Mazarin were members of French elite society.
Baumhauer was heavily influenced by various other furniture designers, especially those from Germany and the Netherlands, having learned from them and building his business around the special status provided to him by the government to produce his fine furniture. He worked exclusively for marchands-merciers and produced commissioned pieces.
Interestingly, while the trend at the time in furniture making was to move towards simple Neoclassical furniture that was not heavily ornamental, Baumhauer was strange as he practiced Rococo or Transitional style of furniture making, albeit more restrained in how stylish it was. This gave him quite the reputation of being one of the rare furniture makers capable of making masterpieces in a variety of artistic styles, many of which were quite daring in terms of pushing the envelope design-wise.
The quality of this bureau is enhanced by its rarity, as it’s one of the very few bureaus worked on by Baumhauer during the last decade of his life. It featured a very compact and delicate design and was most likely not personally designed by Buamhauer. Instead, its design probably came from Simon-Philippe Poirier, whom Baumhauer worked for later in his life, with the two collaborating on various pieces that have gone on to find their home in aristocratic collections around Europe.
Additionally, this lot is only one of two bureau designs produced by Baumhauer that incorporated Japanese lacquer, the other being in the Louvre, which was made out of ebony, rather than tulipwood, which this lot is made from. The Japanese lacquer was carefully bordered using porcelain plaques specially designed to highlight the designs they encapsulated.
Other Highlighted Lots:
Lot 81 | Jean-Francois Leleu (1729-1807) | A Late Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Amaranth, Tulipwood and Parquetry Commode
Delivered on 3 February 1774
90 x 81.5 x 50 cm
Provenance:
- Delivered by Jean-François Leleu to the banker Joseph Micault d'Harvelay (1723-1786), 3 February 1774, for his hôtel on the rue d'Artois
- Almost certainly the commode listed in 1786 (in an inventory taken following the death of Micault d'Harvelay) in the chambre à coucher of Madame d'Harvelay
- Acquired from Kraemer, Paris
Estimate: US$600,00 - 1,000,000
Hammer Price: US$550,000
Sold: US$693,000
Lot 66 | Design: Victor Louis and Jean Louis, Metalwork: Pierre II Deumier, The Ormolu: Pierre Gouthiere | A Pair of Late Louis XV Ormolu And 'Acier Poli' Consoles
Circa 1765-1770
28 x 90.5 x 29.5 cm
Provenance:
- Acquired from Perrin, Paris
Estimate: US$200,000 - 300,000
Hammer Price: US$330,000
Sold: US$415,800
Lot 68 | Design: Jean-Louis Prieur, Philippe Caffieri | A Pair of Late Louis XV Ormolu Three-Branch Candelabra
Circa 1765-1770
54 x 37 cm
Provenance:
- Jaime Ortiz-Patiño; Sotheby's, New York, 25 April 1998, lot 245
- Acquired from Didier Aaron, Paris
Estimate: US$150,000 - 250,000
Hammer Price: US$300,000
Sold: US$378,000
Auction Details:
Auction House: Christie's New York
Sale: L'Art du Luxe: Masterpieces of French Furniture
Date: 12 December 2024
Number of Lots:132
Sold: 11
Unsold: 21
Sale Rate: 84%
Sale Total: US$9,762,480