A Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Floral Marquetry Bureau Plat

Durand

Louis Durand (est. 1787)
Prosper-Guillaume Durand (fl. 1834-1862)
Gervais-Maximilien-Eugène Durand (1839-1920)
Frédéric-Louis Durand (b. 1874)

The Durand dynasty of cabinet makers can be traced to as early as 1787 supplying official commission during the Empire period. Louis Durand had fourteen children, at least one of whom followed his father into the furniture business and helped establish Durand as an important maker during the Restoration and July Monarchy periods, supplying in the 1830s the royal palaces at Versailles, Saint-Cloud and Fontainbleu.

During the Empire their premises at 14 Rue des Fossés-Montmartre had the sign ‘Au désir de la paix’ (To the desire for peace) but Durand’s eldest son was drafted in 1812 and in the face of universal economic difficulties during the Napoleonic wars, was forced to make redundancies. Durand received a few small imperial commissions between 1811 and 1814 which helped establish official recognition for making furniture of quality and elegance. In 1827 at the industrial exhibition of products and industry Durand was awarded for a commode and secretaire in mahogany and maple marquetry purchased by King Charles X. Assisted by his son Prosper-Guillaume who then succeeded him in 1834/38, the business grew with a healthy cliental and under King Louis Philippe received the royal warrant as supplier to the royal court. Prosper-Guillaume Durand was praised for his inlaid furniture at the 1834 and 1839 industrial exhibitions and in 1844 won a silver medal for rosewood furniture adorned with gilt-bronzes. He exhibited a sideboard elaborately carved with hunting trophies at the 1851 London and 1855 Paris International Exhibitions. He died in 1862. He died in 1862.

In the absence of conclusive evidence, it is supposed that the business of Louis and his son Prosper-Guillaume passed to the next generation of Durand cabinetmakers, beginning with Gervais Durand who had workshops at 12 rue de la Cerisaie in 1870, moving to 23 rue Beautreillis from 1878. Gervais was joined by his son Frederic Louis by 1889 and thereafter the firm was known as Durand et Fils. At the international exhibition of that year, the firm was complimented for ‘excellent dans les affectations de l’ébénisterie’ and for furniture of the ‘first order’. For the jury at the 1889 exhibition, Henri Picard wrote “M. Durand ébéniste aussi habile que modeste, expose pour la première fois des meubles de premier ordre, don’t il est à la fois le dessinateur et l’excécutant, il marches sur la voice tracée par les maîtres tells que Beurdeley et Dasson” (op. cit. Ledoux-Lebard, p.182). Durand furniture is made to the highest standards. Earlier pieces have the marque au fer ‘DURAND A PARIS’. For Gervais Durand’s time the cold stamp ‘G. DURAND’ is most common but ‘Durand Fils’ is also recorded.

Bibliography:
Ledoux-Lebard, Denise. Les Ebénistes du XIXeme siècle, Les Editions de l’Amateur, (Paris), 1984; pp. 178-184.
Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions – London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900, Antique Collectors’ Club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006.
Mestdagh, Camille & Lécoules, Pierre. L’Ameublement d’art français : 1850-1900, Les Editions de l’Amateur, (Paris), 2010.
Payne, Christopher. Paris Furniture – the luxury market of the 19th century, Éditions Monelle Hayot, (Paris), 2018; pp. 338-341.