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Pierre Harry MEWESEN
In marquetry of rosewood, satinwood, amaranth, and fruitwoods, with chased and gilt bronze ornamentation, the superstructure partially encircled by an openwork gallery of Greek key motifs decorated with utensils, opening with six drawers, the apron opening with a drawer forming a writing surface covered in brown leather, gilt-tooled with a roulette decoration of cross motifs and rosettes, the cabriole legs joined by a stretcher shelf decorated with a brush pot, stamped “P.H. MEWESEN” and “JME” on the rear crosspiece. This charming bonheur-du-jour is the work of Pierre-Harry Mewesen, a cabinetmaker of Swedish origin who received his master’s letters in Paris on March 26, 1766. He worked for about twenty years on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, under the sign of the “Golden Hand.” While he is also known for works incorporating panels of Chinese lacquer (Christie’s sale, Paris, May 4, 2016, lot 45), Mewesen excelled in grid-pattern marquetry, geometric motifs, intarsia still lifes, and leafy or antique-style friezes.
Similar bonheurs-du-jour, also stamped by Pierre Harry Mewesen, have appeared on the market in recent decades. They present the same composition: a writing surface surmounted by a superstructure with drawers and an apron drawer, resting on four slender legs, sometimes curved, sometimes straight, joined by a stretcher shelf, all enhanced with gilt bronzes and sometimes Greek key friezes. Finely worked marquetry depicts still lifes of vases, pots, and flowers (Christie’s sale, New York, April 26, 1994, lot 162; Christie’s sale, London, June 12, 2003, lot 18; Hôtel Lambert collection, Sotheby’s sale, Paris, October 13, 2022, lot 542).
