Writing Desk (Bonheur du jour)
Ricardo do Espírito Santo Silva (1900-1955), Lisbon, Portugal, by 1955;
His posthumous sale, Collection d’un grand Amateur, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, June 14, 1955, lot 42;
Signor A. Conti, before 1971 [1];
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Craig, London, by 2010-probably February 10, 2022 [2];
Sold, The Collector, Christie’s London Online, February 10, 2022, lot 188;
With Galerie Léage, Paris, by June 2025;
Purchased from the Galerie Léage by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025.
NOTES:
[1] The desk was offered for sale by Conti at Important French Furniture, Christie’s, London, December 2, 1971, lot 111. A price list included with copies of the catalogue lists the buyer as ‘James’, but Christie’s London confirmed to MacKenzie Mallon, Head, Provenance, in an email dated August 20, 2025, Nelson-Atkins curatorial files, that the lot failed to sell.
[2] Mr. and Mrs. Craig consigned the desk to The Collector, Christie’s London Online, November 16, 2021, lot 569, but it failed to sell. It is likely they were also the consignors to this 2022 sale held three months later.
Collection d’un grand amateur. Objets d’art et de tres bel ameublement du XVIIIe siècle…Galerie Charpentier, Paris, 14 June 1955 (Paris: Galerie Charpentier, 1955): lot 42 (ill. pl. XV).
“Un meuble nommé bonheur du jour.” Connaissance des Arts, no. 67 (September 1957): 56–61 (ill. p. 58)
André Boutelmy. “Essai d’attribution de quelques meubles anonymes à R.V.L.C. (Rogier Van der Cruse-Lacroix).” Bulletin de la Société de l’histoire de l’art français (1966): 155‒167, ref. pp. 166–167 (not illus.)
Pierre Kjellberg, “R.V.L.C. Une des meilleures estampilles que l’on puisse trouver sur des petits meubles Transition.” Connaissance des Arts 179 (January 1967): 56–61 (possibly ill. p. 59, fig. 7)
Objects of Art and Clocks, Important French Furniture, Fine Tapestries, Eastern Rugs and Carpets…Christie, Manson & Woods…8 King Street, St. James’s, London…Thursday, December 2, 1971 (London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1971): lot 111, p. 42 (ill. pl. 41).
Pierre Kjellberg. Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle. Dictionnaire des ébénistes et des menusiers. (Paris: Les éditions de l’amateur, 1989): 749–766 (ref. p. 766, not illus.)
