Y121-C. 17%; MARCHAND-6b£NISTE PRIVIITGIE I)U ROI 1756
|
P |
ierre Macret never became a master, receiving, however, in 1756 the warrant of ‘marchand – ebeniste privilegie du roi suivant la cour’ in succession to Latz’s widow. At the beginning of his career he supplied pieces to Lazare Duvaux (who in 1758 owed 1.169 livres to him) and to his fellow ebenistes Genty. Boudin. Provost and Chevalier. Between 1764 and 1771 he was ‘fournisseur ordinaire des menus plaisirs du roi’. His business flourished, to the extent that he was able to set up in 1771 as a marchand – mercier and move to the rue Saint-Honore. Soon afterwards he gave up producing furniture in order to specialize in the sale of luxury furnishings. Macret worked for the Marquis de Marigny, to whom he supplied various pieces of furniture in 1770. amounting to 1.890 livres. In December 1774. and then in May 1775. he put his stock of ebenisterie up for sale. In 1781 he was described as ‘bourgeois de Paris’, and retired from business in 1787.
The most noteworthy pieces by Macret consist of a suite of furniture in lacquered tolework with chinoise-
|
12191 Encoignure stamped lacquered tolc. (Sale Sola net, Macret, decorated with paneb of Paris, 23 March 1984, lot 101) |
rie scenes, including two commodes (one at Versailles, one sold at Saint-Gcrmain-cn-Laye on 3 June 1985), and an encoignure sold in Paris on 23 March 1984. The three pieces are branded with the initials ‘G. R. C.’ and a crown, supposedly the mark of Marie – Antoinette’s personal garde-meuble at Compiegnc. Mention should also be made of a commode in lacquered tolework (Gallerie Maurice Segoura). decorated with fans, which can be dated between 1772 and 1773. Panels of lacquered tolework were a novelty and appeared in the 1770s on furniture by Saunier or Macret. This new technique was perfected by the painter Gosse in 1760 and developed by his son-in-law Samousseau who received a royal warrant in 1767 for the manufacture of imitation Chinese lacquer.
|
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bibliotheque historique de la Villc dc Paris. Marigny archives. NA 106 bis F. de Salverte: Les Ebenistes, pp. 214-15 1220J Commode stamped encoignure [219/. (Sale Saint- Macret, en suite with the Cermain-en-Laye, 3 June 1985) |
(2211 Commode in Chinese lacquer stamped M. Criard, с. 1740-45. The fiddle-shaped central cartouche is characteristic of Cnard. (Sotheby’s Monaco, 22 June 1987, lot 544)
