Footnotes

• The model for this bureau plat is attributed to Joseph Baumhauer (d. 1772, ébéniste privilégie du Roi circa 1749). From the Kotschoubey Collection and now in the Louvre, it is thought to have originally belonged to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia. Another similar bureau plat, also attributed to Joseph Baumhauer, is in the J. Paul Getty Museum (71.DA.95). From the Oranianbaum Palace near Saint Petersburg, it is thought to have been a gift from Louis XV to Catherine the Great.
  
  Baumhauer, known simply as "Joseph" because of the manner in which he stamped his furniture, was a highly sought after cabinetmaker in the mid-18th century, whose creations are thought by many to be on par with those of Bernard van Risamburgh (BVRB).
  
  A very similar bureau plat by Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis Beurdeley with nearly identical bronze mounts was sold at Sotheby's New York, April 22, 2010, lot 128, for $92,500.
  
  

Auction Notices

• The model for this bureau plat is not by Joseph Baumhauer but rather Nicolas Pierre Séverin, which is in the Musée du Louvre (inventory no. OA7805). Sometimes known as the "abbé Teray" desk, it was produced by several of the greatest cabinetmakers of the late 19th century, including Dasson, Krieger, Beurdeley, and Gervais Durand. A model by Durand is illustrated in: Camille Mestdagh and Pierre Lécoules, L'ameublement d'art français 1850-1900, Editions de l'amateur, 2010, pp. 57, 261, 288

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Category: Furniture / European Furniture and Works of Art

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