Lot 67: A Louis XVI ormolu mounted Japanese lacquer, ebony and ebonised bonheur du jour by Claude Charles Saunier (1735-1807) circa 1775-80

A Louis XVI ormolu mounted Japanese lacquer, ebony and ebonised bonheur du jour by Claude Charles Saunier (1735-1807)
circa 1775-80With eight lacquer panels variously depicting rustic huts, exotic birds, trees, flowers, a cockerel and a pagoda within rural landscapes, the superstructure comprising a galleried marble top with an ormolu tasselled drapery pelmet, above a pair of beaded panel mounted doors enclosing a bois satine interior, flanked by bead-and-reel panelled angles, over a marble top with projecting canted front angles, above a rosette embedded guilloche mounted and oak-lined frieze drawer, with a tulipwood sliding top inset with a gilt-tooled leather writing surface flanked by stationery compartments, with a pair of beaded panelled doors below, enclosing one shelf, flanked by paterae and ribbon-tied floral pendant mounts, on fluted tapering legs terminating in toupie feet and brass castors, stamped: 'JME., C.C. SAUNIER' 64cm wide x 40cm deep x 100cm high, (25in wide x 15 1/2in deep x 39in high)

ProvenanceBy repute of the vendor's family, the offered lot previously belonged to the important Serbian industrialist, benefactor and patron of the arts, Georg Weifert (1850-1937). A very similar Saunier bonheur du jour to the offered lot formed part of the Jack and Belle Linsky collection between 1955 and 1982, after which period it went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is now housed there in Gallery 539, Accession No: 1982.60.58. The same is also illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Francais du XVIII Siecle, 1989, Paris, fig. A, p. 776. For the most part the mounts on both desks appear related while the age and distinctively sparse style of the Japanese lacquer panels are certainly comparable. In fact, each is mounted in an almost conforming manner with a guilloche frieze, ormolu ribbon-tied pendants, a roundel escutcheon and tasselled drapery-swagged gallery. Also the composition and subject matter of the lacquer panels seem analogous. However the proportions and the legs differ due to the fact that the Metropolitan example was executed at the end of Louis XV's rule, during the Transitional period (circa 1765-70), whereas the present model was most likely produced approximately ten years later, during the reign of Louis XVI. The superstructure on the New York bonheur du jour is virtually the same size as the main central section below, lending it a slight element of ungainliness, or at least of being top-heavy. While the later offered version is notably more elegant in its proportions since the superstructure appears smaller in relation to the corresponding main body beneath. Finally, the latter has the typical fluted tapering legs of the Louis XVI Neoclassical style but the former has cabriole legs which are equally indicative of the preceding Louis XV Rococo period.Georg WeifertFollowing his graduation from the Braumeisterschule near Munich, Georg Weifert (or Dorde Vajfert) returned to his home in Serbia before soon taking over control of his father's brewery. After a period of successful and profitable expansion for his brewery, Wiefert purchased several mines, as a result of which he rapidly developed into the wealthiest individual in Serbia. Georg also went on to be the foremost industrialist in what became Yugoslavia and he is widely considered one of the most influential Serbian and subsequently Yugoslavian figures of the early 20th century.During the periods 1890-1902 and 1912-1918 Weifert served as Governor of the National Bank of Serbia, but due to his great success in this role he was then made Governor of the National Bank of Yugoslavia, which was essentially the same as the former but re-named following the end of the First World War. Despite numerous achievements in this role, he is perhaps most renowned for being responsible for the conversion of the Austro-Hungarian krone into the Yugoslav dinar.Georg Weifert is also widely celebrated as a major patron of the arts, defender of cultural institutions and champion of humanitarian issues during what was an especially troublesome historical period for the Balkan Peninsular. Of particular note in this respect was Georg's gifting of his extensive personal library and treasured collection of ancient coins to the University of Belgrade. He also built a Roman Catholic church called the Anina Crkva (or Church of St Anne) in Pancevo in memory of his mother along with a cemetery there which is now the resting place for various members of the Weifert family. It is also recorded that during his life he established numerous institutions, both public and charitable.