Joseph Baumhauer
Encyclopedia
Joseph Baumhauer was a prominent Paris
ian ébéniste
, one of several of German extraction. Having worked for some years as a journeyman for the German-born ébéniste François Reizell, he was appointed ébéniste privilegié du Roi in 1767, enabling him to skirt certain requirements of the Paris guild under royal privilege as well as a stiff entrance fee. He used the stamp ♣JOSEPH♣, the name by which he was commonly known to his contemporaries, between fleurs-de-lis emblematic of his royal appointment. Such stamps, like the long-mysterious B.V.R.B.
, served to mask the identity of cabinetmakers to the clientele of marchands-merciers
, such as Lazare Duvaux
, who owed the "ébéniste Joseph" 1726 livres at the time of his death. Furniture stamped by Baumhauer that is mounted with Sèvres porcelain plaques must have been commissioned and sold by Simon-Philippe Poirier, who maintained a monopoly of the production, having originally devised the decor. some furniture stamped by Joseph is veneered with panels of Japanese lacquer, another sure indication of the intervention of a marchand-mercier, who, rather than the cabinetmaker himself, was in a position to purchase Japanese screens and cabinets, have them disassembled and, once the wooden support of the lacquer surfaces had been planed down, applied as costly veneer panels. Other marchands-merciers for whom Joseph is known to have worked include Thomas-Joachim Hébert
and Charles Darnault.
The inventory of his workshop and stock in trade taken after his death following a long illness gives a snapshot of his current style; one of the appraisers was the ébéniste Martin Carlin
, to whom Joseph owed 113 livres. As might be expected in 1772, some of the furniture was in Louis XV style (contournée, "serpentine" in shape) while entries for other pieces revealed their Louis XVI character, such as a table with legs "a gaine avec des Canelures", that is, with straight, fluted tapering legs. Most of the refined furniture bearing his stamp is in Louis XV style, employing crossbanded veneers of tropical woods rather than marquetry, and with sensitively-integrated gilt-bronze mounts that betoken close collaboration with the fondeurs-ciseleurs who made them, rather than purchases of stock mounts on the wholesale market.
About 1745 he married Reine Chicot, of a family of Parisian menuisiers, makers of carved panelling and seat furniture. Their son, Gaspard-Joseph Baumhauer, born in 1747, is thought to have taken over his father's business, using his father's stamp, a common practice of the time.
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian ébéniste
Ébéniste
Ébéniste is the French word for a cabinetmaker, whereas in French menuisier denotes a woodcarver or chairmaker. The English equivalent for "ébéniste," "ebonist," is never commonly used. Originally, an ébéniste was one who worked with ebony, a favoured luxury wood for mid-seventeenth century...
, one of several of German extraction. Having worked for some years as a journeyman for the German-born ébéniste François Reizell, he was appointed ébéniste privilegié du Roi in 1767, enabling him to skirt certain requirements of the Paris guild under royal privilege as well as a stiff entrance fee. He used the stamp ♣JOSEPH♣, the name by which he was commonly known to his contemporaries, between fleurs-de-lis emblematic of his royal appointment. Such stamps, like the long-mysterious B.V.R.B.
Bernard II van Risamburgh
Bernard II van Risamburgh, sometimes Risen Burgh was a Parisian ébéniste of Dutch and French extraction, one of the outstanding cabinetmakers working in the Rococo style. "Bernard II's furniture is brilliant in almost every respect...
, served to mask the identity of cabinetmakers to the clientele of marchands-merciers
Marchand-mercier
A marchand-mercier is a French term for a type of entrepreneur working outside the guild system of craftsmen but carefully constrained by the regulations of a corporation under rules codified in 1613.. The reduplicative term literally means a merchant of merchandise, but in the 18th century took...
, such as Lazare Duvaux
Lazare Duvaux
Lazare Duvaux was a Parisian marchand-mercier, among the most prominent designers and purveyors of furnishings, gilt-bronze-mounted European and Chinese porcelains, Vincennes porcelain and later Sèvres porcelain and all the small, refined luxuries that appealed to Mme de Pompadour, one of his...
, who owed the "ébéniste Joseph" 1726 livres at the time of his death. Furniture stamped by Baumhauer that is mounted with Sèvres porcelain plaques must have been commissioned and sold by Simon-Philippe Poirier, who maintained a monopoly of the production, having originally devised the decor. some furniture stamped by Joseph is veneered with panels of Japanese lacquer, another sure indication of the intervention of a marchand-mercier, who, rather than the cabinetmaker himself, was in a position to purchase Japanese screens and cabinets, have them disassembled and, once the wooden support of the lacquer surfaces had been planed down, applied as costly veneer panels. Other marchands-merciers for whom Joseph is known to have worked include Thomas-Joachim Hébert
Thomas-Joachim Hébert
Thomas-Joachim Hébert was a leading Parisian marchand-mercier supplying the court of Louis XV of France.In the 1720s Hébert commissioned furniture from the workshops of André-Charles Boulle...
and Charles Darnault.
The inventory of his workshop and stock in trade taken after his death following a long illness gives a snapshot of his current style; one of the appraisers was the ébéniste Martin Carlin
Martin Carlin
Martin Carlin was a Parisian ébéniste, born at Freiburg, who was received master at Paris in 1766.Carlin worked at first in the shop of Jean-François Oeben, whose sister he married. He set up independently in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, an unfashionable quarter of Paris, where few of his wealthy...
, to whom Joseph owed 113 livres. As might be expected in 1772, some of the furniture was in Louis XV style (contournée, "serpentine" in shape) while entries for other pieces revealed their Louis XVI character, such as a table with legs "a gaine avec des Canelures", that is, with straight, fluted tapering legs. Most of the refined furniture bearing his stamp is in Louis XV style, employing crossbanded veneers of tropical woods rather than marquetry, and with sensitively-integrated gilt-bronze mounts that betoken close collaboration with the fondeurs-ciseleurs who made them, rather than purchases of stock mounts on the wholesale market.
About 1745 he married Reine Chicot, of a family of Parisian menuisiers, makers of carved panelling and seat furniture. Their son, Gaspard-Joseph Baumhauer, born in 1747, is thought to have taken over his father's business, using his father's stamp, a common practice of the time.