A gilt-bronze-mounted amaranth, tulipwood, bois satiné, parquetry and oak Goût Grec secrétaire à abattant stamped Joseph twice Louis XVI, circa 1770

with a rectangular Spanish portor marble top with concave edges above a stylised Greek frieze concealing two drawers above a panelled fall-front opening to reveal a tooled leather writing surface and two rows of four short drawers above a further pair of panelled doors opening to reveal three long drawers, each brass fluted stile headed by a patera, with panelled sides above a shaped apron on block feet, the whole inlaid with geometeric motifs

Gallery Kraemer, Paris, 1967

In overall very good conserved condition. An exceptional piece of museum quality. Highly recommended. An impressive model. The marble top has some minor chips and scratches together with a couple of medium size chips to both front corner, rear left corner and rear edge. On the right side of the Greek key freize, there is a later screw which is protruding but this can easily be fixed. The gilt-bronze mounts are of very good quality but slightly dirty and would benefit from a light clean according to taste. There is a very minor patch to the veneer to the left of the handle on the top left drawer inside the fall-front. There is some very minor restorations to the veneer around the escutcheon on the fall-front. There is a vertical hairline crack on the inside of each cupboard door which can easily be filled or left. The ring-pull handles of lower drawers possible later replacements. There are some very minor restorations to the veneers which has been well executed and the condition of the veneer is generally in good order and of good quality. There is very minor warping to the bottom of the fall-front resulting in a slight gap above the doors below as visible from the photograph.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Comparative Literature:
Daniel Alcouffe et al, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon, 1993, no. 61, pp. 194-195. 
Jean-Dominique Augarde, "1749. Joseph Baumhauer.Ebéniste Privilégie du Roi.'L'Estampille, June 1987, p. 30.
Anne Forray-Carlier, Le Mobilier du Château de Chantilly, Dijon, 2010, p. 57-59.
Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1998, p. 448-449 figs a-d.
Alexandre Pradère, French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, Tours , 1989, pp. 231-242.

An identical secrétaire also with a Spanish portor marble top, stamped three times Joseph between three fleur de lis  (Accession number 84.DA. 969), is in the Getty Museum, Malibu, illustrated in the catalogue p. 38, NO. 44 reproduced here in fig. 1.

The Goût Grec style:
This magnificent secrétaire with its very strong neo-classical outline, virtuoso marquetry and finely cast and chased gilt-bronze mounts represents the pinnacle of the goût grec style.
According to Alcouffe, op. cit., p. 194, `Influenced by the marchands-merciers, Joseph's work evolved like that of Oeben, towards the Grecian style'.

There is the celebrated cartonnier and bureau plat on eight legs attributed to Joseph but stamped Leleu (who probably restored it in this new style), in the Musée de Chantilly, illustrated by Forray-Carlier, op. cit., p. 59. It is after designs by Le Lorrain, and made for Lalive de July. It has  the same strong neo-classical outline, stylised gilt-bronze-mounted Greek key frieze and brass  fluted stiles headed by a patera as on the offered secrétaire.

The catalogue of the sale of Lalive de July stated that the author was Philippe Caffiéri which is not surprising considering the the part taken by the bronzes on this piece of furniture. Kjellberg, op. cit., pp.448-449, figs a-d, illustrates various pieces with this stylised Greek key mount, brass fluting and paterae. Other pieces conceived in this style include a large bureau plat from the collection of Sir Anthony de Rothschild, sold at the hôtel George V in Paris on 15th November 1983, lot 46, which was stamped by a little know ébéniste E.J. Cuvellier. Augarde, op. cit., states that these pieces of furniture were the work of two artisans who used the same stamp.

Joseph Baumhauer (d. 1772), ébéniste privilégie du Roi circa 1749:
Baumhauer otherwise known as Joseph had German origins and settled in Paris before 1745. Although he was not a maître, he often stamped his pieces Joseph and had a highly successful workshop in rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine. An inventory taken after his death reveals that he had very few pieces, around fifteen in all, in the process of being constructed and considering the size of his business it would seem to indicate that he worked mainly on commissison or for the marchands-merciers. He was renowned for his luxurious furniture which would appear to have been his sole output embellished with expensive and highly prized materials such as Sèvres porcelain plaques, pietre dure, panels of Oriental lacquer which were embellished with richly cast and chased gilt-bronze mounts.
In his early career he supplied furniture to the celebrated marchand-merciers Lazare-Duvaux and Darnault. Between 1760 and 1770, he was commissioned by Poirier to make exquisite richly decorated furniture in the neo-classical style including for example the lacquer commode supplied in 1766 to the Marquis de Marigny and also all the porcelain-mounted bureaux would appear to have been made for Poirier. He also worked for Julliot.
Joseph's clientèle included the French aristocracy but also Austrian and Russian clients which is confirmed by the presence of several important pieces of furniture by him in the rococo style in the Hermitage.