JEAN-PIERRE LATZ
Jean-Pierre Latz (circa 1691-1754) was an artisan privilégié du Roi working in the rue du Faubourg St. Antoine. While he never received his maîtrise, his style was characterized by its sculptural vitality, extremely realistic floral marquetry and distinctive bronze mounts, which he cast himself in direct contravention of Parisian Guild laws (see H. Hawley, ‘Jean-Pierre Latz, Cabinetmaker’, Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, September/October 1970, p. 207). Counting Frederick II of Prussia and Augustus III of Poland amongst his key patrons, Latz's style was likely fundamental to the development of the Rococo idiom in Potsdam and Berlin (ibid, p. 210).

When the present lot was sold as a part of the collection of Mr. & Mrs. Deane Johnson in 1972, it was theorized that the work tables had possibly been created by the Spindler brothers: Johann Friedrich (1726-1812) and Heinrich Wilhelm (1738-1788) Spindler, möbelhersteller known for their beautiful marquetry, working under the Prussian king Frederick the Great. Jean-Pierre Latz was of a similar German extraction, moving from Cologne to Paris in 1719 to work as an ébéniste. However, the refined oak construction of the drawers in the present lot indicates the hand of a Parisian maker, and the elegant naturalism of the marquetry, as well as the form of the case and its mounts are indicative of the oeuvre of Jean-Pierre Latz. For a particularly similar example, see The Collection of the Late Andre Meyer; Christie’s, New York, 26 October 2001, lot 15. Furthermore, a related pair of tables stamped by Latz and with the same distinctive open cabochon angle mount, formerly in the collections of Baron Erich von Goldschmidt-Rothschild and Sidney J. Lamon, was sold anonymously at Christie's London, 9 December 1982, lot 52 (also illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1989, p. 488).

MR. AND MRS. DEANE JOHNSON
These stunning work tables once formed part of the celebrated collection of Mr. and Mrs. Deane Johnson of Bel Air, California, and were sold in their landmark sale of French furniture in 1972. The sale included many superb pieces of Louis XVI furniture, many with royal provenance, notably the spectacular console supplied by Riesener to Queen Marie Antoinette (later sold for $3.184 million in 1988, at the time a record price for French furniture) and the celebrated porcelain-mounted secretaire by Weisweiler from Empress Maria Feodorovna's boudoir at Pavlovsk, subsequently acquired by the legendary dealer Duveen from the Soviet government in 1932 and sold to Anne Ford Johnson in 1956.

Mr. Deane Johnson (1918-1999) and his second wife, Anne Ford Johnson (1919-1996) had a remarkable collection of fine French furniture at their home in Bel-Air, California. Mr. Johnson was a longtime staple in the entertainment industry, where he worked with clients such James Stewart, Bing Crosby, Shirley Temple, Dinah Shore, Gary Cooper and more. He was involved in various charitable and philanthropic organizations such as the American Film Institute, the Boy Scouts of America, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Mrs. Deane Johnson was an exceptional collector, supporter of the arts, and legendary hostess. Married first to Henry Ford II for over twenty years, Mrs. Ford Johnson served on the White House Fine Arts Committee during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations and was the first woman elected to the board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The glamorous Mrs. Ford Johnson was also selected as one of the 10 best-dressed women in the world in 1956 and named to the Fashion Hall of Fame in 1960. Following her divorce from Henry Ford II in 1964, Anne married Deane Johnson in 1968.