Footnotes

Provenance
From the collection of the late Cornelis Paulus van Pauwvliet.

Pierre Garnier (circa 1725-1806), recu maître ébéniste in 1742.
Bon Durand, recu maître ébéniste in 1761.

Pierre Garnier
The son of the Parisian ébéniste François Garnier, Pierre, who in 1742 at the age of 16 became maître-ébéniste, went on to play an important role in the early development of neo-classical furniture alongside the famous German-born Jean-François Oeben and Joseph Baumhauer.

As a result of his early and highly publicised collaboration with De Wailly and through Madame Geoffrin's recommendation, Garnier caught the attention of one of the most influential protagonists of the new style; the Marquis de Marigny, brother to Madame de Pompadour and the directeur des Bâtiments. A remarkable series of letters from Marigny to his cabinet maker testify that he held Garnier in high esteem and entrusted him with a variety of commissions (S. Eriksen, "Some letters from the Marquis de Marigny to his cabinet-maker Pierre Garnier", Journal of Furniture History, no.8, 1972, pp. 78-85).

Garnier was himself active as a designer as well as a cabinet maker, which explains the idiosyncratic nature of many of the most ambitious pieces of furniture that he made, as well as the introduction of his 'goût grec' manner which soon became extremely popular.

Collaboration with Bon Durand
It appears that Pierre Garnier collaborated with Bon Durand for at least nine years. A large commission for the Maréchal de Contades, delivered in circa 1771-1772 to his château de Montgeoffroy (Maine-et-Loire), where it still remains to this day, comprises not only the important pieces stamped both 'P.GARNIER' and 'B.DURAND', but also a quantity of 'day-to-day' furniture supplied for the private apartments.

Such was the scope of the project that Garnier asked for help from other ébénistes, in particular Bon Durand. He did so in order to honour the commission as well as his other work. According to de Quénetain, op.cit. p.33, other notable pieces which feature both the estampille of Bon Durand next to that of Pierre Garnier are: a pair of commodes produced on behalf of King Charles XIII of Sweden; a bureau formerly in the Stravos S. Niarchos collection; and a Louis XVI cartonnier which was exhibited in the 1955 Parisian exhibition on 'Grands Ebénistes', lot 113.

Furthermore, an inventory relating Bon Durand's activities, dated 14 July 1777 mentions: 'un petit livre... que ledit Durand déclare servir à écrire les marchandises qu'ils fournies au sieur Garnier et les acomptes qu'il a reçu' which clearly testifies to the fact that an intense collaboration existed at that time between these two ébénistes.

Related Literature
Christophe Huchet de Quénetain, Pierre Garnier, Paris, 2003, p.33.