Lot n° 30
Estimation :
80000 - 100000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 171 450EUR
Jacques-Émile RUHLMANN (1879-1933) - Lot 30
Jacques-Émile RUHLMANN (1879-1933)
Quarter-tail Pleyel piano, 1927-1928, in Macassar ebony and burr walnut veneer, with box decorated with ivory diamond marquetry and top encircled by an ivory rush. Tripod base with curved legs, slightly saber-shaped at the front and tapered at the back, with ivory plaque at the bottom. The upper part of the front legs has a small full scroll, and two full ivory pulls on the lid (slight missing parts and accidents to the ivory).
Ivory Elephantidae spp.
Numbered F72 444 in two places and 184 249.
Height 99 cm - Length 165 cm - Depth 167 cm
Provenance: made for Jean Lambiotte's mansion in Neuilly-sur-Seine, which has remained in the family ever since.
History: our piano is listed in the Pleyel archives (Érard collection) under number F72 444 184 249. The ironworker Cavrier began work on November 17, 1927, and the piano left the factory on January 25, 1928. It was delivered to Madame Lambiotte on February 2, 1928 for 42,500 francs.
A similar piano, or most likely ours, is in the Ruhlmann archives at the Musée des Années 30 in Boulogne (inv. 2002 18.18.381). Referenced under numbers 2496 NR and 2057 AR.
A quarter-topped Pleyel piano was also part of Mr. Ducharne's Paris installation, entirely decorated by Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann.
A similar model, entirely lacquered in black, was made for the Maharajah of Indore, and another was part of the Claude and Simone Dray collections.
Bibliography: Encyclopédie de l'architecture, constructions modernes, tome 11, Éditions Albert Morancé, Paris, plate 40 for a photo of the salon in Mr. and Mrs. Lambiotte's villa in Neuilly, taken from the garden, where our piano can be seen.
Florence Camard, Ruhlmann, les Éditions du Regard, Paris, 1983, p. 263 for the similar model in black lacquer shown at the 1929 Salon des Artistes Décorateurs in Paris.
Florence Camard, Ruhlmann, Éditions Monelle Hayot, Saint-Rémy-en-l'Eau, 2009, p. 283 and 284 for the black lacquer variant of our piano (ref. 2496aNR) at the Maharajah of Indore. CD ROM accompanying the book, piano section, our model referenced and reproduced under number 2057AR-2496NR.
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