Jean Antoine Bruns - Princial Mahogany Secretary - Delivered For Chantilly In 1816

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Jean-Antoine Bruns for the Condé furniture storehouse
Mahogany cabinet secretary
Bearing multiple marks of the Garde-Meuble and the hot iron inventory of 1845
Marble dimensions : H. 142,5 W. 97,5 D. 42 (cm.)
Paris, 1816

Although of a very simple design, this secretary is a perfect example of the careful craftsmanship of Parisian artisans. It is indeed a piece of furniture with an impeccable oak frame. The mahogany veneer is tastefully chosen. This secretary rests on cubic feet with mouldings. It opens with two leaves and a flap and has a very light decoration of pilasters. Finally, it is topped with a Belgian granite marble.

The Condé productions and their traceability
This secretary corresponds to a very specific furnishing need at the Château de Chantilly. The aim was to refurnish a residence where everything was missing after the revolutionary looting.
Thus, the cabinetmaker was commissioned to make this secretary for the bedroom of the Count of Rully, in 1816. His rank as the first gentleman of the Duke of Bourbon, as well as his military career, explains the quality and sobriety of the commission. It was originally made to match a chest of drawers. This piece of furniture was later assigned to a residence of the princely crown, located in Saint-Firmin, which is mentioned in the 1845 inventories. This residence was used by Mr Delafontaine, the deputy inspector of forests. This piece of furniture and other objects were given to him as a gratuity on his retirement in 1851.
The marks present provide valuable information: 
-the blue seal with the crown of the sons of France
-the monogram under a crown with a hot iron is that of the 1845 inventory
-the monogram under the crown in stencil can be dated to around 1830
-the numbering 12 finally gives a crucial information: Chantilly had 17 heterogeneous mahogany secretaries in 1845. This one is the twelfth inventoried: its description corresponds to that of its delivery in 1816 and also informs us that it still has its original marble.

The Count of Rully and his wife, Princess Adélaïde de Bourbon
Rully, Patrice-Gabriel Bernard de Mon-Tessus, Comte de), deputy in 1789, and peer of France, born in Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) on 10 August 1761, died in Paris on 25 February 1831, entered the king's armies at a very young age; he was colonel of the Maine regiment at the time of the Revolution. He was elected on 5 April 1789 as a deputy for the nobility at the Estates-General by the bailliage of Chalon-sur-Saône, and was admitted to sit on 10 November 1789, replacing M. Bernard de Sassenay, who had resigned. He did not stand out much and wrote a letter to the Assembly to defend the memory of his brother, who had been killed in Corsica in a riot. M. de Rully emigrated in 1791, served in the Condé army, and campaigned against the Republic until 1796. Appointed marshal of camp in 1803 by the Count of Provence, and confirmed in this rank on 12 September 1814, after the return of the Bourbons, he was promoted to lieutenant-general on 1 July 1815, and called to the Chamber of Peers on 17 August following. He voted for death in the trial of Marshal Ney, and left the Upper House at the revolution of 1830, not to take the oath. He had been aide-de-camp and first gentleman to the Duke of Bourbon.
He was married to Adélaïde de Bourbon, the legitimate daughter of the Prince de Condé senior and Marguerite Michelot, a singer. They got married during their exile in London in 1803.

Jean-Antoine Bruns: received a master's degree in 1782, he was a subcontractor of Riesener and thus supplied the Royal Crown. His talent and the quality of his work enabled him to enjoy a stable situation throughout the Revolution and the Empire. He carried out orders for the Bourbons on their return from exile and even became a supplier to Louis XVIII in 1824.

Provenance : 
Delivered for the bedroom of the Count of Rully, first gentleman of the Duke of Bourbon, on the ground floor of the castle of Chantilly, in 1816, then princely house in Saint-Firmin and finally, Delafontaine family by descent.

Condition report :
Piece of furniture in excellent cabinetry condition, with a beautiful stamped varnish. Original marble. Superb gilded morocco.

References:
Inventories kept in Chantilly, cotes ZR and 4PA.

My sincere thanks to the team of the library of the castle of Chantilly for their warm welcome.