Emmanuel-Alfred Beurdeley (1847-1919)

after the model by Jean-Henri Riesener

gilt bronze, wood marquetry

stamped ‘A BEURDELEY A PARIS’ 

Please note that this piece currently located in Hong Kong

Lécoules collection, acquired by Monsieur Justin Lécoules in 1939.

Thence by descent.

C. Mestdagh, L’Ameublement d’art français 1850-1900, Paris, 2010, p. 82 (figs. 78, 79)

The model for this ‘Table des Muses’ is a historically significant work by Jean-Henri Riesener, cabinetmaker of the highest grade to Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and many of the refined courtiers at Versailles. In the progression of decorative styles adopted by the court, this 1774 piece marks Riesener’s first piece in the neoclassical taste that would characterise all of his later masterworks. His most significant work prior to this table had been the King’s Desk, which was a richly ornamented piece in the fluid Rococo style that he was finishing off after the death of its designer Jean-François Oeben. By contrast, this piece has the straight, tapering legs and rectilinear conception that would be the hallmarks of the Louis XVI style.

The original model was created for Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu (1731-1784), who oversaw all of the commissions and holdings of royal furniture in his role as steward and general inspector (intendant et contrôleur général) of the Garde-Meuble. After then being held by the next intendant du Garde-Meuble, the table was spared from the post-Revolutionary sales and was used for the furnishings of the Luxembourg Palace during the Directoire. Later, under the Second Empire, the table was moved to the Petit Trianon on the occasion of a significant ‘retrospective exhibition’ in 1882. This exhibition was organised by Empress Eugenie, who was enchanted by the eighteenth century, and contained major works of furniture by great craftsmen including Boulle, Riesener and Gouthière. It was later included in other exhibitions, including the Exposition rétrospective de l’Union centrale des Arts décoratifs in 1882, where it was photographed and certainly copied. It is now located at the Hôtel de la Marine, but still belongs to the collection of the château de Versailles – its accession number for both the collection of the Hôtel de la Marine and the chateau de Versailles is D-T 510 C.

Given the fame of the table, it is unsurprising that many nineteenth-century furniture makers created versions for a luxury market hungry for historical pieces. One of the most compelling elements of the original design, the trompe l’oeil use of the foliate corner mounts to give the impression that the leaves move under the lower border, is rendered here with the full dynamism of the original, but examination of the mounts reveals that Beurdeley actually outdoes his predecessor, the great Riesener. When compared closely, one can observe that Beurdeley’s mounts often have a greater depth and three-dimensionality: on the mounts of the friezes flanking the marquetry of the putti, this can be seen on the flowers in the top-right and bottom-left corners as well as the berries on several of the tendrils. The marquetry top, depicting Astronomy and Geometry, also matches the fineness of execution on Riesener’s original, particularly on delicate areas like the drapery of the robes and the pages of the books.

The Beurdeley family created luxury furniture over three generations, and received the high honour of a gold medal at not one but two international exhibitions (in 1867 and 1889). The grandfather, father and son differed slightly in their specialisms: while Jean Beurdeley, the founder of the house, made original designs, his son and grandson tended to focus more on faithful copies of prestigious pieces from the eighteenth century. Their pieces were immensely sought after, including by Emperor Napoleon III and his wife Eugenie, for whom they supplied a marriage coffer in 1853. The firm thrived throughout the second half of the century, enjoying a notably strong client base in the United States, before finally closing in 1895. The remaining furniture was sold at a spectacular series of auctions from 1897 to 1898, and Alfred-Emmanuel Beurdeley devoted the remainder of his life to collecting art and sculpture, leaving 25,000 francs to Paris’ Musée des arts decoratifs in his will.