Antoine-Léonard Couturier, maître in 1767.
This secrétaire with its superb marquetry and its unusual hinged deep rectangular top is stamped by the little-known ébéniste Antoine-Léonard Couturier, maître in 1767. Descended from a family of Parisian menuisiers, Couturier was established in rue de la Grande-Truanderie from 1767 to circa 1773-4, after which date there is no further record (Salvertè, Les Ébénistes du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1953, p. 67). Other examples of similar model but by respectively Delorme and Roussel are illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Francais du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, pp. 245, 739.
This secrétaire was in the collection of Frances, 4th Marchioness of Bath (1840-1915), née Vesey, daughter of Thomas Vesey, 3rd Viscount de Vesci), who married John Alexander Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath in 1861. When the 4th Marquess died in 1896, their eldest son, Thomas Henry Thynne inherited the title and estates. Although it is not known when the Dowager Marchioness acquired this secrétaire, in 1915 it was recorded in a posthumous inventory in the 'Sitting Room' of her London address at 15 Manchester Square where it was described as: '£150 A 2 ft. 6 in. Louis XVI oblong table of coloured woods, inlaid flowers inmarquetrie and borders brass Grecian pattern Gallery lift up top with glass protector on cabriole shaped legs, ormolu mounts'. Additionally, it is annotated '104' referring to its lot number in the November 1940 sale. The printed paper label affixed to the secrétaire bears her initials 'F.I.C.', which stand for Frances Isabella Catherine. It was thereafter removed to Longleat in Wiltshire, the hereditary seat of the Thynne family from where it sold in 1940.

Post Lot Text

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