Lot 454
Important American Classical Ormolu-Mounted Rosewood and Mahogany Sécrétaire à Abattant, c. 1815, attr. to Duncan Phyfe, New York, marble top, arched frieze, bookmatched fall-front lid with baize-lined writing surface, satinwood and rosewood fitted interior, cabinet doors below, columnar supports, acanthus paw feet, h. 64 1/4 in., w. 39 1/4 in., d. 21 in. Note: The overall form, distinctive ormolu mounts, the carved feet, and capitals of this lot directly relate to the three known fall-front desks attributed to Phyfe: one from the John Wheeler Leavitt collection that was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art; one from the Warner Collection in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that sold at Christies New York on September 25, 2013, sale 2729, lot 144; and one sold at Sothebys New York, Important Americana, January 23, 2010, lot 581. The Secretaire à Abattant is a distinct neo-classical French form that appeared in the last quarter of the 18th century. In the United States, French émigré craftsmen working in New York such as Charles-Honoré Lannuier and the Scotsman Duncan Phyfe were influenced by designs published in Pierre de la Mésangère's Collection des Meubles et Objets de Goût editions between 1802 and 1826, including plate 57 from the 1803 version, in which Mésangère highlights the use of large sheets of figured veneers, ormolu capitals and bases on the columns, and ormolu appliqués on the friezes. Ref.: Peter M. Kenny and Michael K. Brown. Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011, p. 214, pl.37; Tom Armstrong. An American Odyssey, The Warner Collection of American Fine and Decorative Arts. New York: The Manacelli Press, 2001, p. 205.
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