Bonheur Du Jour Stamped Etienne Avril (1748-1791 - Received Master In 1774), Louis XVI Period

Bonheur du jour in mahogany and molded mahogany veneer opening with two glass doors and two tiered drawers, the folding top, a belt drawer and two leaves in the lower part. The fluted uprights and the tapered fluted legs. White marble top. Gilt bronze ornamentation including asparagus and openwork gallery. Louis XVI period. Stamp of Étienne Avril (1748-1791), cabinetmaker made master in November 1774. H.: 117 cm - W.: 65 cm - D.: 37 cm Perfect condition (restored in our workshop). Provenance Galerie Jean Rey Louvre des antiques, purchase 2003 (for information the piece of furniture had been purchased for 3x the current price) Etienne Avril (1748-1791) – cabinetmaker – mastery obtained on November 23, 1774: Cabinetmaker under the reign of Louis XVI, Etienne Avril is characterized by its furniture with panels framed with bronze rods. Called Avril the elder so as not to confuse him with his brother Pierre, Etienne Avril, opened his main boutique on rue de Charenton, at the corner of rue Moreau and also stores near Porte Saint-Antoine. He was asked for numerous commissions, notably from Queen Marie-Antoinette for her apartment at the Château de Saint-Cloud. During his activity as a cabinetmaker, Etienne Avril sold “a quantity of chests of drawers, consoles, bookcases, secretaries and chests of drawers in mahogany and Indian wood, bedside tables”. His furniture is most often in mahogany and satin. They are characterized by rigorous and simple lines and large plain surfaces, typical of the style of Louis XVI. Avril's work also consists, but in less quantity, of furniture in lemon veneer, rosewood and a few models in geometric marquetry. The shapes are clean, light, well proportioned, the bronzes almost absent, visible only at the keyholes and sometimes in the form of fine framing strips which highlight the architecture of the furniture. At the dawn of the Revolution, Etienne Avril sold his shop on rue de Charenton to keep only the stores at Porte Saint-Antoine. After his death, several auctions, lasting several days each time, were organized in order to empty them of the countless number of his accumulated goods. Museums: Louis XVI mahogany cabinet framed in ebony - Château de Fontainebleau. Small Louis XVI cabinet with two drawers, veneered with rosewood - Musée Marmottant - Paris. Chiffonier table, n° MAD1504 - Museum of Decorative Arts - Lyon. Bibliography: Etienne Avril, a cabinetmaker on the eve of the Revolution - Isabelle Vetois - L'estampille Objet D'Art, n° 242, December 1990, p. 54-65. Furniture craftsmanship in Paris in the 18th century: Etienne Avril - Isabelle Vetois - History of art, n° 16, 1991, p. 29-40. French Furniture of the 18th Century - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Éditions de l'Amateur - 2002. Cabinetmakers of the 18th century - Count François de Salverte - Editions d'Art et d'Histoire - 1934. The art and manner of the masters French cabinetmakers in the 18th century - Jean Nicolay - Pygmalion edition - 1976.