Martin Carlin (c. 1730–1785) was a Parisian ''

ébéniste An ''ébéniste'' () is a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist". Etymology and ambiguities As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or ...

'' (

cabinet-maker A cabinet is a case or cupboard with shelves or drawers for storing or displaying items. Some cabinets are stand alone while others are built in to a wall or are attached to it like a Bathroom cabinet, medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically mad ...

), born at

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

, who was received as Master ''Ébéniste'' at Paris on 30 July 1766. Renowned for his "graceful furniture mounted with

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

porcelain", Carlin fed into the luxury market of eighteenth-century decorative arts, where porcelain-fitted furniture was considered among "the most exquisite furnishings" within the transitional and neoclassical styles. Carlin's furniture was popular amongst the main great dealers, including Poirier, Daguerre, and Darnault, who sold his furniture to

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

and many amongst the social elite class. He died on 6 March 1785.

Work life

Carlin worked at first in the shop of

Jean-François Oeben Jean-François Oeben, or Johann Franz Oeben (9 October 1721 – 21 January 1763) was a German ébéniste (cabinetmaker) whose career was spent in Paris. He was the maternal grandfather of the painter Eugène Delacroix. Life and career Nothing is ...

, whose sister he married. The marriage contract reveals that "Carlin was still a day-worker living on the quai des Célestins". Yet soon after Oeben's death, Carlin started to sell furniture to the marchands-merciers when setting up independently in the

Faubourg Saint-Antoine The Faubourg Saint-Antoine () was one of the traditional suburbs of Paris, France. It grew up to the east of the Bastille around the abbey of Saint-Antoine-des-Champs, and ran along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine. Location The Faubourg Sain ...

. This was however an unfashionable quarter of Paris, where few of his wealthy clientele would have penetrated. Therefore, Carlin found it necessary to sell his works exclusively to '' marchands-merciers'' such as Simon-Philippe PoirierOther ''ébénistes'' working for Poirier were Roger Vandercruse Lacroix and Bernard II van Risamburgh and his partner Dominique Daguerre, who acted as decorative-designers. It was only through these entrepreneurs that Carlin could acquire the

Sèvres porcelain Sèvres (, ) is a French Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a populatio ...

plaques that decorated many of his pieces. His earliest such pieces can be dated by the marks on their porcelain to 1766; they followed designs supplied by the dealer Poirier. The great dealers also possessed an expansive network of the monarchy and much of the nobility, and thus sold Carlin's furniture to figures such as,

, the comte de Provence, the comte d'Artois, Louis XV's daughters, the mesdames de France,

Madame du Barry Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry (; 28 August 1744 – 8 December 1793) was the last ''maîtresse-en-titre'' of King Louis XV of France. She was executed by guillotine during the French Revolution on accusations of treason—particularly being ...

, and the duchesse de Mazarin. For 12 years after becoming Master Ebéniste, he made porcelain-mounted furniture for Poirier and after 1778, he fed into the popular taste for exotic, 'oriental' designs and materials, and therefore started to produce sumptuous pieces in Japanese lacquer.

Collection

Although Martin Carlin made some larger pieces— ''secrétaires à abattant'' (drop-front secretary desks), tables, and commodes— he is best known for refined small furnishings in the neoclassical taste, some of them veneered with cut up panels of Chinese lacquer, which he would also have received from the hands of the ''marchands-merciers''.

Bonheur du jour (Table à gradin dite)

:*Bonheur du jour, 1765,

Bowes Museum The Bowes Museum is an art museum, art gallery in the town of Barnard Castle, in County Durham in northern England. It was built to designs by Jules Pellechet and John Edward Watson to house the art collection of John Bowes (art collector), Jo ...

, UK :*Bonheur du jour, 1766, Musée Nissim de Camondo, France :*Bonheur du jour, 1768,

Boughton House Boughton House is a country house in the parish of Weekley in Northamptonshire, England, situated about north-east of Kettering. It is situated within an estate of . The present house was built by Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu (d.1709) ...

, UK :*Bonheur du jour, 1768, delivered to the Comtesse du Barry,

The Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the third-largest museum in the world and the largest art museum in the Americas. With 5.36 million v ...

, United States :*Bonheur du jour, 1769,

, United States :*Bonheur du jour, 1770,

, United States :*Bonheur du jour, 1770, The Huntington Library, United States :*Bonheur du jour, 1771, The Huntington Library, United States :*Bonheur du jour, 1774,

, United States

Bureau plat (Writing table)

:*Bureau plat, 1778, delivered to the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Paul Petrovich of Russia for the Palace of Pavlosk,

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

, United States

Cabinet

:*Cabinet, c. 1783,

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

, UK

Coffret à bijoux

:*Coffret à bijoux, 1770, delivered to Marie-Antoinette for the Petit Triannon, Château de Versailles, France :*Coffret à bijoux, c. 1770, delivered to the Comtesse du Barry,

, United States :*Coffret à bijoux, c. 1774, delivered to the Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna and Grand Duke Paul Petrovich of Russia for the Palace of Pavlosk, The Detroit Institute of Arts, United States :*Coffret à bijoux, c. 1775,

, United States Coffret à bijoux, c. 1775,

, United States

Commode à vantaux (Commode with doors)

Commode A commode is any of many pieces of furniture. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' has multiple meanings of "commode". The first relevant definition reads: "A piece of furniture with drawers and shelves; in the bedroom, a sort of elaborate chest ...

à vantaux made in 1778 in

ebony Ebony is a dense black/brown hardwood, coming from several species in the genus '' Diospyros'', which also includes the persimmon tree. A few ''Diospyros'' species, such as macassar and mun ebony, are dense enough to sink in water. Ebony is fin ...

inset with precious

pietra dura ''Pietra dura'' (), ''pietre dure'' () or intarsia lapidary ( see below), called ''parchin kari'' or ''parchinkari'' () in the Indian subcontinent, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to c ...

panels signed by Gian Ambrogio Giachetti. In the 18th century, this commode formed part of the collection of Pierre Victor, Baron de Besenval de Brunstatt who had it placed in his bedroom at his residence in Paris, the

Hôtel de Besenval The Hôtel de Besenval is a historic ''hôtel particulier'' in Paris, dating largely from the 18th century, with a ''Court of honor (architecture), cour d'honneur'' and a large English landscape garden, an architectural style commonly known as ''en ...

. It is one of Carlin's greatest examples and with no doubt, it was one of the baron’s finest and most valuable pieces of furniture. The commode was acquired in 1828 in Paris by King

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 29 January 1820 until his death in 1830. At the time of his accession to the throne, h ...

through his confectioner François Benois. Today it is part of the

and on display in the Green Drawing Room at

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

. Paul Gallois: ''Baron de Besenval’s eclectic eye,'' The Furniture History Society, London, Newsletter 221, February 2021, p. 8Royal Collection Trust: ''Commode à vantaux from the former collection of Baron de Besenval,'' RCIN 2588

Encoignure (Corner cabinet)

:*Pair of ''Encoignures'', 1772,

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

, UK

Music-stand

:
Music-stand and writing table
c. 1775,

Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...

, UK :*Music-stand, 1770-75,

, United States

Music-stand and writing-table

:*Music-stand and writing-table, 1786, given by Marie-Antoinette to Mrs William Eden (later Lady Auckland), V&A, UK

Reading stand

:*Reading stand, c. 1780, V&A, UK

Secrétaire

:*Secrétaire, 1775,

, United States :*Secrétaire, 1776,

, UK :*Secrétaire, 1776-77,

, United States

Secrétaire à abattant

:
Secrétaire à abattant
1776,

, UK :*Secrétaire à abattant, 1770-80, V&A, UK

Table à ouvrage

:*Table à ouvrage, 1770. delivered to the duchesse de Mazarin in 1779 for her dressing room,

, United States :*Table à ouvrage, 1773,

, United States :*Table à ouvrage, 1775, V&A, UK :*Table à ouvrage, 1783-84,

, UK :*Table à ouvrage, 1786, given by Marie-Antoinette to Mrs William Eden (later Lady Auckland), V&A, UK

Notes

References

*Svend Eriksen, ''Early Neo-Classicism in France'' pp 159 (bio.)

External links

(Getty Museum): Martin Carlin
* ttp://www.dia.org/object-info/47c2cd72-d30b-494c-a27d-40645fe8950e.aspx?position=1 (Detroit Institute of Arts) Jewel Cabinet, about 1774, accession #71.196br>(Royal Collection) Commode
ca 1778, with panels of

.
(Waddesdon Manor): Martin CarlinYouTube, Combined music stand and writing table made by Martin Carlin, 1775
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carlin, Martin French furniture makers 1730s births 1785 deaths Waddesdon Manor

Work life

Collection

Bonheur du jour (Table à gradin dite)

Bureau plat (Writing table)

Cabinet

Coffret à bijoux

Commode à vantaux (Commode with doors)

Encoignure (Corner cabinet)

Music-stand

Music-stand and writing-table

Reading stand

Secrétaire

Secrétaire à abattant

Table à ouvrage

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links