A Louis XVI period sideboard attributed to Claude-Charles Saunier, master in 1752
Made of mahogany and mahogany veneer, with chiselled and gilded bronze ornamentation, white marble tops, surrounded by an openwork gallery; the central section opens to reveal three drawers fitted with a clover-shaped lock, framed by a drapery frieze and adorned with interlaced motifs, floral volutes and rosettes at the corners, supported by fluted Corinthian columns with capitals joined by a cross-member, resting on tapered, clogs-shaped legs decorated with water leaves.
Late 18th century
H 91 cm L 131 cm P 50 cm
Born into a family of cabinetmakers, Saunier qualified as a master craftsman in 1752 and joined his father Jean-Charles’s workshop on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine in 1757. He worked briefly in the Louis XV style, before quickly adopting the neoclassical motifs of the transitional and Louis XVI periods for which he is now renowned. Saunier’s success was not confined to France, and his reputation reached as far as London thanks to his work for the haberdasher Dominique Daguerre.
This sideboard is therefore entirely typical of his work. It can be compared to several other sideboards by the cabinetmaker, such as the one featuring the same gilded bronze ornamentation, which was sold at Christie’s New York on 30 April 2019. Desmarais Collection A pieds à terre in New York.
