Ferdinand Bury (1740-1795), maître in 1774.

FERDINAND BURY AND THE GOÛT ANGLAIS
Ferdinand Bury (1740-1795) was awarded his maîtrise in 1774 and worked in the faubourg Saint-Antoine, on the rue de Charonne. In October 1789, he had to file for bankruptcy. His accounts reveal a medium-sized workshop with a small stock of around twenty pieces, the most expensive being 'un secrétaire en bois jaune orné, 450L' (a citron secretaire embellished with bronze). The papers filed at that time also reveal that he employed the fondeur Antoine-André Ravrio to supply bronzes for his furniture, and that he retailed his works through various marchands-merciers such as Bonnemain, Mathieu Law, Gavanet and Jean-Baptiste Tuart.

The absence of a trade register or debts from private clients confirm that Bury was working exclusively with the trade and his fellow ébénistes. The stamp of Riesener can be found beside his own on some pieces, including a commode now at the Louvre, which bears the Royal brand of Versailles (D. Alcouffe, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, p. 269). The presence of both stamps on the Versailles commode and the commode's distinct resemblance to Bury's oeuvre is intriguing, suggesting that that Riesener may have sub-contracted the work to Bury.

As marchand, Bury flourished under the patronage of the prince of Nassau, the marquis de Marigny, the marquis de Mailly-Nesle and the duc de Brissac. The rich ormolu mounts on some of his works, including a bureau à cylindre sold Christie's, New York, 11 December 2014, lot 25, resemble mounts used by Carlin, suggesting that Bury possibly also worked for the same marchand-mercier as Carlin—namely, Dominique Daguerre.

The present commode was conceived in the sober taste of the late eighteenth century known as the goût anglais, which emphasized simple functional forms undisturbed by gilt mounts and embellishments, and often based directly on English prototypes. This fashionable new style of the 1770s and 1780s was promoted by another of Bury's clients, Abel-François Poisson, marquis de Marigny, younger brother of Madame du Pompadour. The marquis greatly admired the restrained forms and plain beauty of English mahogany furniture, not only buying mahogany pieces through an agent in London, but also commissioning furniture in a similar spirit from his favored domestic makers. For example, see the well-known set of mahogany chairs supplied by Pierre Garnier for the dining room of his hôtel in the place des Victoires in 1778. For related works of case furniture by Bury, see the bureau à cylindre sold Sotheby's, Paris, 19 November 2020, lot 110; the bureau à caisson sold Christie's, London, 15 November 2017, lot 230; and the commode sold Christie's, New York, 24 October 2013, lot 614A.