Lerouge, Le Brun, Bonnemaison: the role of art dealers in the commerce of Boulle furniture from Revolution to the Restoration.
The French Revolution, and the financial crisis that followed, brought about the disappearance of the traditional retailers of luxury furniture, the mercers, replaced by curio shops and by art dealers. In phase with the fashion of Parisian amateurs in the years 1770-1790, the latter associated paintings and Boulle furniture in their apartment-galleries, concerned with enhancing both their aesthetic and monetary value. Jean-Baptiste Le Brun pioneered this development in his splendid mansion on the Rue de Clery, followed by his father-in-law (and contemporary) Nicolas Lerouge. The discovery of archival documents allows us to evoke the carrer of this lesser known dealer of the Place des Victoires, his speculation in real estate, his financial ties with Le Brun, as wellas with Julliot and his family relations with Bonnemaison. These three actors in the market were surrounded by a network of dealers -sometimes related among themselves- who also associated the commerce of paintings with that of Boulle furniture. With the fall of the Empire and the opening of the market to the English, this network of art dealers, who had, since the French Revolution, woven professional ties abroad, played an important role in the exportation of quantities of Boulle furniture to England. In the royal collection in Windsor, there are still today certain pieces that remain unpublished.
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