Lot 92: An Important Louis XV ormolu-mounted tulipwood amaranth and marquetry bureau plat circa 1750, attributed to Jean-Pierre Latz

the serpentine leather-inset top with a molded ormolu border, the shaped frieze set with conforming floral marquetry panels within ormolu borders and containing three drawers on one side; the sides mounted with ormolu masks, raised on cabriole legs mounted with chutes and sabots . Jean-Pierre Latz, (c. 1691-1754)

measurements height 31 1/2 in.; width 65 in.; depth 32 1/2 in. alternate measurements 80 cm; 165 cm; 83 cm

Henry Hawley, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, September/October 1970, no.33, illustrated, p.240G. Janneau, Les Grands Meubles, Paris, illustrated pl. XIIIA. Boutemy, 'L'ébéniste Joseph Baumhauer," Connaissance des Arts, March 1965, no. 157, pp.82-89.Peter Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol. II, p. 1054.

Collection of Paul Dutasta, sold, Galerie Georges Petit, Paris, June 3-4, 1926, lot 158, illustrated pl.LXIIIBritish Rail Pension Fund, sold, Sotheby's, London, November 24-25, 1988, lot 14

PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN (LOT 92)
Jean-Pierre Latz was one of the great German-born craftsmen who settled in Paris to become one of the finest ébénistes working in the Louis XV style. He was naturalized in 1736, married in 1739 and before 1741 he had obtained the warrant of ébéniste privilégié du Roi. This warrant enabled Latz to exercise his craft without becoming maître ébéniste. Latz established his workshop in the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine where he produced clock cases as well as case furniture. Latz was celebrated for his use of Boulle marquetry as well as floral marquetry. More particularly he became infamous for producing his own bronze mounts which was a serious contravention of guild rules leading to a seizure of a very large quantity of these objects from his workshop in 1749. The reason that Latz wished to retain sole rights over his bronze mounts was to ensure their exclusivity. Latz did supply furniture for the Duc de Penthièvre, for the Dauphine at the Château de Choisy-le-Roi, and for Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV, for the palace of Colorno (now in the Quirinal). The greater part of his production, however, went elsewhere on the Continent where his distinguished clientele included Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III of Poland. Henry Hawley, op. cit. commented that the patronage of the Prussian King made it likely that "his work helped to form the style of rococo furniture in Potsdam and Berlin". In his seminal work on Latz, Hawley attributes this bureau plat unequivocally to Latz. His attribution was based upon the close similarities it bears to a bureau plat in the Wallace collection (Peter Hughes, The Wallace Collection, Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol. II, no. 207 (F112) pp. 1050-1054) which is also firmly attributed to Latz. The chutes are identical as is the overall design, shape and size. These chutes also relate to a desk in the collection of the Duke of Bedford, Woburn (illustrated, Hawley, ibid. no.29, p. 239). The Woburn desk in turn relates to a commode stamped by Latz in the Quirinal (Hawley, no. 21). The corner clasps of the top are identical to the clasps on a desk at Waddesdon Manor (Hawley, no. 30) and a desk in the Quirinal (Hawley no. 34). Hawley further draws attention to the closely comparable naturalistic floral marquetry inlay found on a bureau en pente (slant front desk) stamped by Latz, in the collection of the late Stavros Niarchos (illustrated, A. Pradère, Les ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 152). Similar floral marquetry is on a writing table, also stamped by Latz, formerly in the collection of Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Hilbert, sold, Sotheby's, New York, May 24, 2007, lot 43.