KOLLER VIEW 01/24

6 pre view. 02 1 J an van Kessel the Elder (1629–1679). A pair: Floral bouquets. Oil on copper. 10 × 8 cm. Estimate: CHF 80 000/120 000 2 A Louis-Philippe bureau plat. Paris circa 1840. Attrib- uted to Louis-Alexandre Bellangé. 195 × 98 × 82 cm. Estimate: CHF 60 000/100 000 Decorative Arts Stephan Koller skoller@kollerauctions.com 1 French furniture art Preview of the Decorative Arts and Old Master Paintings auctions on 21 & 22 March 2024 erpillar and a dragonfly, which have settled upon the two charming floral bouquets. Van Kessel’s depiction of the glass vases filled with water, in which a window is reflected, is also superbly executed. A fewwilted leaves that have fall- en remind the viewer that even the most beautiful flowers are transient – as are we. Of opulent elegance and unmistakably French origin is a bureau plat from circa 1840, attributed to the Parisian cabinetmaker and purveyor to the court Louis-Alexan- dre Bellangé (ill. 2). Bellangé’s father Pierre-Antoine was already a well-known Parisian cabinetmaker and one of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s most important furniture suppliers. From 1835 on, Louis-Alexandre furnished royal palaces and museums with his magnificent furniture for Louis-Philippe, who had returned to the capital from exile in Sicily after Napoleon’s abdication in 1814. Bellangé con- tinued the great stylistic traditions of the 18 th century, but was later also inspired by models from the 16 th and early 17 th centuries. These older sources play an important role in the masterfully executed desk in our auction. The table legs are made of solid gilt bronze, which is rare, and refer to Renaissance sculptures, while the delicate bronze work on the red tortoiseshell frieze of our desk is inspired by the Auricular style, fashionable under Louis XIII. The skilful mel- ange of references to various historical periods makes this desk an extremely prestigious piece of furniture, and re- flects the mastery of French cabinetmaking. Jan van Kessel the Elder, a scion of the famous Flemish Brueghel family of painters, was well-known for his still lifes of flowers and fruit and his paintings of insects. In our pair of small-format works, the bright colours of the individual flow- ers stand out particularly well against the dark background (ill. 1). Small creatures are always present in van Kessel’s flower arrangements, in this case butterflies, a beetle, a cat- 2 For further information Old Master Paintings KarolineWeser weser@kollerauctions.com Online catalogues www.kollerauctions.com