A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted Chinese lacquer, Parisian varnish, amaranth, kingwood and satiné veneered secretaire, circa 1775-1780, stamped by Pierre-Harry Mewesen

Madame P. Collection;

Hampel, Munich, 24 September 2020;

Marc Arthur Kohn, Drouot, Paris, 15 February 2022, lot 87

Related literature :

P. Kjellberg, Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1989, p. 566

J. Nicolay, L‘art et la manière des maîtres ébénistes français au XVIIIe siècle, Paris 1976, I, p. 314. 

Pierre-Harry Mewesen, cabinetmaker, received master in 1766.

Of Swedish origin, Pierre-Harry Mewesen worked on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine under the sign of the “Main d’Or" until the eve of the Revolution.

As illustrated by this secretaire, Mewesen produced numerous pieces of furniture adorned with Chinese lacquer, working with marchands-merciers who provided him with these precious panels, salvaged from bookcases or screens imported from Asia.

Mewesen distinguishes himself from his peers through his distinctive use of lacquer panels: he regularly employs panels that have been specifically recut, preserving their decorative friezes that form a border along the lower edges. This practice can be seen as an allusion to the transformation and original composition of the lacquer panels—an aspect his colleagues avoided highlighting. Among Mewesen’s body of work featuring this recurring motif are the pair of corner cabinets from Christie’s, London, 4 February, 2015, lot 12, and the secretaire from Christie’s London, 30 September 2014, lot 22. The latter, moreover, features a structure similar to the one presented here, with identical proportions, the same faux-fluted legs topped by triglyph, as well as a similar frieze and base. Only the decoration of the inlaid panels differs, notably with mother-of-pearl inlay in the frame of the secretaire sold in 2014. The interlaced frieze paired with fluted legs is characteristic of his furniture and is also found on a commode sold at Christie’s, Paris, 4 May 2016, lot 45, as well as on a commode decorated with lacquered panels sold by Christie’s, London, 14 June 2002, lot 395.