PIERRE IV MIGEON (Paris, 1696-1758, Maître avant... Lot n° 43

Flat OFFICE Paris, Louis XV period, around 1745-1750. Oak frame, rosewood veneer, gilded bronze, leather. H. 79 cm, W. 131.5 cm, D. 66 cm Provenance Vente Paris, galerie Charpentier, Me Maurice Rheims, 2 December 1955, lot n° 128, (fig. 1) Bibliography Sophie Mouquin, Pierre IV Migeon, 1696-1758, Au coeur d'une dynastie d'ébénistes parisiens, Les cahiers du mobilier, Paris, 2001. Pierre IV Migeon (1696-1758, master before 1729), who was one of the great Parisian cabinetmakers of the second third of the 18th century, worked hard to create works that were imprinted with strong, perfectly balanced lines, just like our office, powerful curves straight from the Regency period (1700- 1730), marked by a cut that could almost be described as "virile", all combined with decorations showing a clear preference for monochrome decorative games based, as here, on rosewood. Opening with three drawers each locking, the desk has a belt characterized by marked indentations, not only on either side of the central drawer in strong withdrawal (corbin beak-shaped cuts), but also in the center of the short sides (trilobal cuts). It rests on four console legs with accentuated curves whose mastery and finesse give the piece of furniture an obvious elegance. The tray, rigorously rectilinear, is covered with a brown morocco with a golden border. It is flanked all around by a bronze molded border enhanced by quarter rounds, carved with acanthus leaves. The rich bronze decoration, with its rocky obedience, only appears in the sensitive areas of the furniture. Sophie Mouquin's research work has allowed us to better understand the Migeon dynasty in both the 17th and 18th centuries. In particular, they allowed it to offer a more extensive dynastic continuity than the former one commonly accepted before 2001: the François de Salverte numeration which had prevailed until then adopted a numbering from I to III. By adding the 17th century Migeons, S