Beschreibung:

Y  A REGENCE ORMOLU-MOUNTED EBONY AND BRASS-INLAID COMMODE
CIRCA 1720, IN THE MANNER OF ANDRE-CHARLES BOULLE, POSSIBLY BY JOSEPH POITOU
Of bombé outline with original breche marble top above two walnut-lined drawers, inlaid overall with interlaced and scrolling leafy and flowering tendrils, the upper drawer displaying a lion mask, foliage and central handle, the lower drawer with wreathed female masks and two handles, the apron with a further wreathed mask and the angles with bearded masks, scrolls and diminishing foliate chutes to foliate lion paw feet, incorporating 18th / 19th Century restorations
92cm high, 129cm wide, 61cm deep
The commode follows a pattern and technique popularised in the early 18th century by the ébéniste André -Charles Boulle, and which persists to the present. The much more elaborate prototype for the basic form is the pair of commodes supplied in 1708-09 by Boulle for Louis XIV's bed-chamber at the Palais de Trianon; Boulle produced at least another five examples based on descriptions in Parisian 18th century Paris auction catalogues, and versions of the same, of the highest quality, were still, or again being produced in the second half of the 19th century by Parisian makers including Henry Dasson, Charles Guillaume Winckelsen and Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, even in London in the mid-19th century furniture makers of the calibre of Robert Blake `Buhl manufacturer and cabinet inlayer'(d. circa 1843) (and the various iterations of the firm continued by his four sons) were making copies of the Trianon Palace commodes (see the Frick Collection, New York, acc' no. 1916.5.03). Boulle of course produced less elaborate versions of this commode, including a so-called table-en-huche, displaying typical gilt-bronze mounts and marquetry of brass and tortoiseshell, with a single drawer and portor marble top (sold Sotheby's, New York, 4 October 1991, lot 269).
Other early 18th century Parisian ébénistes producing comparable work include Joseph Poitou (master in 1718). Poitou's father Philippe had supplied precious parquet floors for royal residences between 1678- 1687, married André Charles Boulle's sister Constance and worked directly for Boulle from 1674 - 78. Joseph followed his father's trade and when he eventually established his own workshop in 1716 on rue Notre-Dame-des-Victoires it is clear that he was heavily influenced by the work of his uncle. In his workshop he employed a young Charles Cressent who almost certainly designed bronze mounts for Poitou's furniture. Recent research published in Calin Demetrescu, Les Ébénistes de la Couronne sous le règne de Louis XIV, Lausanne, 2021, has reattributed many pieces formerly credited to Boulle to lesser-known makers such as Poitou, including a commode in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art (obj' no. 1965.167). Another commode from the collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy attributed to Poitou was sold Christie's, Paris, 14 June 2022, lot 37 (EUR 252,000). It featured acanthus corner mounts of similar pattern though with diapered panels rather than the bearded and turbaned masks on the present lot, the handle pattern and lion-feet are similarly related.
Another commode of identical shape was attributed to Noël Gérard, ébéniste and marchand-mercier, active between 1710 - 36, established in rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine in 1719. Gérard became one of the most important marchand-merciers in Paris, his clientele including the Comte de Clermont and foreign ambassadors such as the ambassador of Spain and the Marquis de Castellas. The lavish decoration of the commode is executed in tortoiseshell, colourful polychrome-tinted horn and contre-partie brass inlay (sold Sotheby's, Hôtel Lambert, Une Collection Princière, Vol. III, A travers l' Hôtel Lambert, Paris, 13 October 2022, lot 506, EUR 163,800 including premium) and relates to another in première-partie, illustrated in A. Pradère, L'Art du Mobilier Français, Paris, 1990, p.113, fig.70. A bureau plat in the collection of the Toledo Museum of Art bears Gérard's stamp NG, it displays prominently ormolu masks similar to the present lot and the drawer handles are of closely related pattern. It has been recorded that other ébénistes supplied him with furniture carcasses to be decorated and mounted with bronzes from his own workshop, demonstrating the commercial relationships that existed between Parisian craftsmen with complementary skills and suggests the possibility that both Poitou and Gérard may have had some involvement in the making of the present lot.
Condition Report:
Generally good, structurally secure, with dents marks and scratches and shrinkage cracks due to age and use. Slight lifting to some of the brass inlay. The drawer handles have been moved or possibly replaced. The marble top is intact.
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