A little diversion from books ~ something for my home office, perhaps? An 18th-century blue lacquer secretary from the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris.(Image: Sécretaire en pente, 1749-1750, Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, inv. 32636, photograph by Laurent Sully Jaulmes)
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4 comments:
How fantastic! You would write the most elegant instant messages on such a desk. And blue lacquer – red and black have been done to death. KDM
Do you think this would be dubbed Vernis Martin? I've seen some amazing blue and green lacquer attributed to Martin.
It can indeed! The cabinetry of the piece is attributed to Adrien Faizelot Delorme, and the lacquerwork to Étienne-Simon Martin. A little history ~ in an effort to compete with the Chinese furniture imports in the eighteenth century, a French cabinetmaker, Guillaume Martin, developed a type of lacquer that imitated that of the Chinese (though he never did figure it out completely). The process, which continued to be used by his sons, became known at "Vernis Martin." This piece is particularly famous because of its unusual blue color.
Thanks for the confirmation! There is some interesting info about the Martin process in Dawn Jacobson's book Chinoiserie. Although you summed it up perfectly here :)
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