CARLIN, Martin

The daily ritual of dressing and grooming was taken very seriously in France, and it was not unusual for an aristocratic lady to receive visitors, who could even be called upon to assist her. Special pieces of furniture were designed for the toilette, such as this elegant marquetry table signed by Martin Carlin, which is more versatile than most dressing tables. The upper section can be removed to serve as a bed table, as it has its own short legs (24 x 68 x 40 cm). It is fitted with an adjustable mirror that can be reversed to form a book rest. A shallow drawer is provided in front, and the lidded compartments on either side are used for the storage of toilet articles. The lower section is a full size table with a marble top, pull-out shelves in front and back, and drawers on both ends holding equipment for dressing, breakfasting, and writing. A trelliswork pattern enclosing rosettes, which may have been based on designs seen in Japanese lacquerwork, embellishes the exterior of this multipurpose piece, which is further enriched with gilt-bronze mounts.

The table is a typical product of a marchand-mercier, who would have bought or ordered the various rock crystal, S�vres porcelain, and silver accoutrements and engaged a cabinetmaker to create the wooden frame. Martin Carlin, a German-born cabinetmaker who had settled in Paris by 1759, specialized in making expensive and fashionable furniture.

The table is set with S�vres porcelain plaques which are dated 1783. The intricate mechanism allows the top to be raised for reading; two candle stands pull out at the sides, and there are two drawers concealed behind the drop front.

Five porcelain plaques or large-format “pictures” ornament this chest of drawers delivered to Mme du Barry in 1772. The three plaques on the front, anonymous, feature gallant subjects, painted after prints based on paintings by Jean-Baptiste Pater and Nicolas Lancret. On the other hand, the two plaques mounted on the sides of the commode, painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin, present two allegorical subjects painted after Carle Vanloo.

This table, a bonheur-du-jour, as this type of small writing desk is called, was the one formerly in the possession of Madame du Barry, the official mistress of Louis XV after the death of Madame de Pompadour.

The model was repeated a number of times, and today eleven such bonheurs-du-jour are known, but this is the only one that can be dated to 1768, based on the date letter P for that year painted on the back of twelve of the porcelain plaques. Supported on four slender cabriole legs, this small piece is fitted with a single drawer in the frieze of the lower section, which has a hinged writing surface as well as a compartment that used to hold an inkwell, a trough for a sponge, and a box for sand to blot up excess ink.

The desk has been attributed to Martin Carlin, who made some eighty pieces of porcelain-mounted furniture between 1765 and 1778, intended for a fashionable and distinguished clientele consisting mostly of aristocratic ladies. The table was decorated by Denis Lev� (active 1754-1805) with porcelain plaques by S�vres Manufactory.

The marchand-mercier Dominique Daguerre purchased the porcelain plaques that decorate the sides of this table from the S�vres Porcelain Manufactory specifically to be mounted on furniture. Once ordered from S�vres, the porcelain plaques, including the unusually-shaped ones at either end of the table, would have been given by the dealer to the �b�niste Martin Carlin with orders to mount them onto a newly designed piece.

This table was among the pieces of furniture that Daguerre sold in May 1782 to Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Paul Petrovich of Russia, who later became the Czar and Czarina. They made an unofficial trip through Europe traveling as the comte and comtesse du Nord. The Duchess installed the table in her bedroom at the Palace of Pavlosk, near St. Petersburg.