Adam's Fine Asian Art Preview 23 November 2021

66 A FRENCH ROSEWOOD APPLIED GILT BRONZE MOUNTED EN DOUCINE CABINET VENEERED WITH COROMANDEL LACQUER PANELS BY MAISON CHARLES BERNEL AFTER A MODEL DATING TO THE LOUIS THE 15TH PERIOD BY BERNARD II VAN RISAMBURGH ALSO KNOWN AS BVRB (1700-1760) THE CABINET: FRANCE, PARIS, CIRCA 1900 THE COROMANDEL LACQUER PLAQUES: CHINA, 19TH CENTURY AND POSSIBLY EARLIER The vertical cabinet of rectangle shape resting on four curved feet and opening by a single door panel. Made of massive wood it is all applied with rosewood and embellished with rocaille style gilt bronze mounts. The frontal door panel is set with a large single coromandel panel depicting numerous Daoist gods and attendants, the central figure likely being Master Wen also known as Master Tongxuan ( 通玄真人 ). Both sides are also set with coromandel lacquer panels, both depicting boys playing with roosters in the courtyard of a palace, one mirroring the other. The back of this cabinet bears a stamp “Maison Charles Bernel” together with a fleur de lys crest. H: 191 cm - L: 112 cm - depth: 45 cm €6,000 - 12,000 NOTES: 1. Bernard II van Risamburgh (active in the mid 18th century) was a Parisian ébéniste of Dutch and French extraction, one of the outstanding cabinetmakers working in the Rococo style. He is famous, notably, for his furniture made with coromandel lacquer panel. Around the mid-18th century, it appears that there was a high demand for pieces of furniture embellished with Coromandel lacquer. Indeed, the sale records of the Marchand-mercier Lazare Duvaux (ca. 1703–1758) show that, for the period 1748-1753, he sold several pieces of that type to his frequent customers, including Madame de Pompadour, the king’s mistress (see Duvaux 1748–58/1965, vol. 2, pp. 40, 80). 2. Maison Charles Bernel (1899-1956) was established passage Saint-Pierre Amelot in Paris. It was reputed for his pieces of furniture and eventually produced a dining room set designed by René Lalique for the “Decorative and Industrial Arts Exhibition” which took place in Paris in 1925. 3. The technique of Coromandel lacquer distinguishes by designs that are not painted on the surface but incised and filled with coloured lacquer. Objects decorated with Coromandel lacquer technique were shipped to Europe by way of the Cor- omandel coast of Southeast India, hence the name. 4. Master Wen also known as Master Tongxuan ( 通玄真人 ), a disciple of Laozi, lived at the end of the Warring States peri- od. He is believed to be the author of the the Wenzi ( 文子 , i.e. “The Book of Master Wen”), a Daoist classic text which was widely read and highly revered in the centuries following its creation, and even canonized as Tongxuan zhenjing ( 通玄真 經 , i.e., “True Scripture of Understanding the Mysteries”) in the year 742 CE. Fig. 2 - See a corner cabinet with Coromandel lacquer panels by BVRB at The MET Museum, New York Fig. 3 - This is the model by BVRB after which ours was made Fig. 4 - Detail of a bronze Fig. 1 - Detail view of the estampille