Interlude – Collections/Weisweiler chest of drawers

Made by one of the greatest cabinetmakers of the late 18^th century, this chest of drawers bears witness to the development of the Consulate taste and the work of some of its major figures. Its illustrious provenance traces the history of the furnishings of the great state residences of the early 19^th century, and puts it among the finest pieces of furniture of the period.

Adam Weisweiler after the French Revolution

Cabinetmaker Adam Weisweiler (1744−1820) enjoyed a brilliant career at the end of the 18^th century. Working closely with the marchand mercier Dominique Daguerre (who died in 1796), he created furniture of incomparable elegance and luxury for the aristocracy and the royal family.
After the French Revolution, the cabinetmaker pursued his career in a new society in which a military and administrative bourgeoisie flourished. In 1797, he acquired a house in the rue des Tournelles, where he probably ran a shop in addition to his cabinetmaking business.

Fig. 1 — Adam Weisweiler and Pierre-Philippe Thomire (attributed to), Martin-Éloi Lignereux (probably under the direction of), Secretary with marble panels, before 1800, Aranjuez, Royal palace

Daguerre died the following year, and Weisweiler continued to work with the merchant’s former associate, Martin-Éloi Lignereux (1751−1809). Through Lignereux, Weisweiler collaborated regularly with the bronzemaker Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751−1843) on the creation of highly refined furniture. Together, they contributed to the development of a new taste, and took on prestigious commissions. These included a chest of drawers and a secretary for King Charles IV of Spain in Aranjuez (fig. 1), and two jewel coffers on stands for Queen Hortense a few years later.

Fig. 2 — Adam Weisweiler and Pierre-Philippe Thomire (attributed to), Martin-Éloi Lignereux (probably under the direction of), Chest of drawers with lacquer panels, before 1800, Saint-Pétersbourg, Hermitage museum

The names Weisweiler, Thomire, and Lignereux are associated with the production of a range of furniture to which our chest of drawers belongs. These include the Aranjuez chest of drawers and secretary already mentioned, as well as two chests of drawers and a secretary in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg (fig. 2). Their great wealth, the remarkable quality of their construction, and the detail of their ornamentation bring them together. They all reflect the taste of the Consulate, the transition between Louis XVI and Empire furniture.

Between Louis XVI and the Empire: the Consulate taste

Between 1789 and 1804, the Directoire and Consulate tastes marked a subtle transition between Louis XVI and the Empire. Along with the Jacobs, the merchant Martin-Éloi Lignereux was one of the major figures of this period. Simplifying forms and ornamentation, they favored an antique vocabulary of great archaeological accuracy. The Egyptomania aroused by the Egyptian campaign (1798−1801) also became one of the main sources of inspiration. The group of furniture to which our chest of drawers relates bears witness to this new taste. Their form, structure, and rhythm are still close to that of Ancien Régime furniture, but their ornamentation bears witness to a new influence. The gilt bronzes on our chest of drawers retain in their design and chasing all the finesse and elegance of Louis XVI’s reign. The motifs used, however, are new — curved lozenges set with elongated palmettes, sphinxes whose tails end in scrolls, six-pointed double stars, and masks of Diana framed by a laurel wreath (fig. 3).

Fig. 3 — Adam Weisweiler (attributed to), Mahogany chest of drawers from the Hôtel d’Elbeuf, detail, Consulate period, Galerie Léage

Fig. 4 — Charles Percier, Chest of drawers in mahogany, satinwood and ebony, decorated with a porcelain plaque and bronzes, former Roche collection

This group of furniture was probably made after the architect and ornamentalist Charles Percier (1764−1838), the third major figure in the Directoire and Consulate tastes. A drawing by him, formerly in the Roche collection (fig. 4), depicts a chest of drawers that is similar in every way to the chests of drawers and secretaries mentioned above, in particular its lion’s paw legs and palmette adorned base.
Working for the high society of the period and enjoying great renown, Percier published numerous interior and furniture designs in collaboration with his associate Pierre Fontaine (1762−1853). Very close to the Jacob family, he evolved in the same Parisian milieu as Lignereux. Lignereux’s daughter married François Honoré Georges Jacob-Desmalter, son of Georges Jacob, in 1798. Lignereux and the ornamentalist certainly exchanged ideas, as these pieces of furniture show.

The furnishing of the Hôtel d’Elbeuf for Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès

Second consul in 1799, then archchancellor of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1804, Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambaceres (1753−1824) was the second man at the head of the state from 1799 to 1815. After being named consul, it chose to settle in the Hôtel d’Elbeuf, rue Saint-Nicaise, near the Palais des Tuileries.

Fig. 5 - Frédéric-Henri Schopin, Jean-Jacques Régis de Cambacérès, duc de Parme, 1824–1842, d’après un portrait de 1814, Versailles, Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. MV 4716)
© Château de Versailles, Dist. RMN / © Christophe Fouin

Cambacérès quickly furnished his residence and drew in the reserves of the Garde-Meuble. He chose a particularly rich furniture, in agreement with its new statute. Some of the most beautiful pieces of furniture of the Ancien Régime but also more modern pieces, thus constituted the setting of its sumptuous official receptions. Our chest of drawers was one of the pieces chosen.

In 1808, it is mentioned in the inventory drawn up before the removal of Cambacérès to the Hôtel de Roquelaure. In the bedroom on the first floor is mentioned: “A commode, new, antique style with portor marble top, the said in mahogany wood, adorned with gilded bronze mat, the front with 3 small drawers, in the thickness of the frieze, with heads of Mercury and griffins, large drawers below with different entries of locks and handles formed by knobs, side panels with laurel leaf wreaths and Diana heads, lower crosspieces with gilded moldings and antique bronze-colored parts, lion claw feet and baguette frame with gilt copper fillet 1m55c wide 1m high”.

The chest of drawers accompanies Cambacérès in his new residence and is still there in 1816.
The rest of its journey in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries could not be retraced. It reappeared in 1950 in Jean Lefèvre’s collection.

Fig. 6 — Monsieur Jean Lefèvre’s collection in Le décor d’aujourd’hui, n°89, 1954 “Insignes souvenirs impériaux”, p. 298

Bibliography

Arch. nat O2 701, Hôtel du Carrousel : inventaire général du mobilier de l’archichancelier Cambacérès. 138 folios. 1807–1808
Arch. nat. O2 506, dossier 17, pièce 1, Lettre au grand maréchal du Palais, 1808
Arch. nat. 286 AP 2 dossier 1 pièce 140, Dossier relatif à l’évacuation de l’hôtel de Cambacérès à Paris, place du Carrousel, 17 mars – 2 septembre 1808
Arch. nat. N/III/ Seine, 850, Catalogue général des cartes, plans et dessins d’architecture. Tome I. Hôtel d’Elbeuf, rue Saint-Nicaise (empl. Plce du Carrousel) ; élév. De l’entrée sur le Carrousel, fin du XVIII^e siècle
Patricia Lemonnier, Weisweiler, Éditions d’Art Monelle Hayot Paris, 1983, p. 60–61
Jean-Pierre Samoyault, Mobilier Français Consulat et Empire, Paris, édition Gourcuf Gradenigo, 2009, pp. 31–33