LATZ’S CLIENTELE AND INFLUENCE ABROAD

Ever since the eighteenth century very few works by Latz have been in France, and few have a French provenance: only the Wildenstein encoignures (130) and the Partridge examples which came respectively from the Chateaux d’Eu and d’Anet and belonged to the Due de Penthievre. probably a client of Latz in about 1750. Important pieces are in the Quirinal in Rome (two commodes, two pairs of encoignures and one bureau plat), originally part of the furnishing of the palaces of Colorno or Parma, ordered by Madame Infante, daughter of Louis XV. from Paris between 1748 and 1753. Otherwise, the largest collections of Latz furniture are to be found in Berlin and Dresden. Before the Seven Years War. the King of Prussia. Fre­derick II and the Elector of Saxony. August III (also King of Poland) are known to have ordered furniture from Paris, by preference from Latz. His Germanic origins no doubt facilitated contacts with the agents of

German princes. At Potsdam, it seems that even Fre­derick the Great’s desk was by Latz. The inventory af­ter Latz’s death records a clock valued at 1.450 livres intended for the King of Prussia, as well as amounts of 1.500 livres due to ’Mr Petit, commissioned agent for the King of Prussia’ and 2,217 livres to ‘Mr Leleux, agent of the King of Prussia’ (this was in error in fact, as Leleu acted as the agent for the Elector of Saxony).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Henry Hawley: ‘Jean-Pierre Latz. cabinet maker’. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art. September – October 1970; ‘A Reputation Revived’. The Connoisseur. November 1979, pp. 176-82

Winfried Baer: ’Some clocks of Frederick the Great’. The Connoisseur, May 1977, pp. 22-29

1133] Small bureau attributed to ImIz, c. 1750, with marquetry of flowers and pomegranates typical of Latz’s style. IChristie’s Ixmdon, 1 July 1976. lot 107)

1136J Commode attributed to Latz, с. 1745; the bois saline veneering in a twat* pattern was also employed by Joseph and Dubois. An identical commode.

stamped Latz with crowned C marks, is in the Quirinal Palace, Rome. Ij. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, CaliforniaI
11351 Commode attributed to Latz, с. 1750, combining rococo mounts typical of Latz and realistic floral marquetry in the style of J.-F. Oeben. (Ader Picard Tajan, 19 March 1981. lot 249)

1137j Commode stamfied l^atz, with floral marquetry in bois de bout on ti bois satinc ground. [Ogcr-Dumont sale. Paris, 25 October 1985)