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Lot Essay
This magnificent commode, sumptuously veneered with a marquetry of B©erainesque motives in brass and deep red tortoiseshell, can confidently be attributed to Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt on the basis of its distinctive ram's headed angle mounts, which appear to have been used exclusively by the ébéniste ordinaire du roi.
The design for the distinctive rams' heads can be found in the oeuvre of the ébéniste's son Gilles-Marie Oppendordt, one of the most important designers of the 18th century and the architect of the duc d'Orléans, featuring in the frontispiece of book ten of the oeuvres de G. M. Oppenordt, as engraved by Huquier. A drawing attributed by Peter Fuhring to the circle of Gilles-Marie Oppenordt shows a chute surmounted by a ram's head, which was almost certainly destined to embellish a piece of furniture (Cf. 'Design into Art: Drawings for Architecture and Ornament', The Lodewijk Hou Hakker Collection, vol. I, p. 370, fig. 577). The same ram's masks and handles appeared on a commode attributed to Oppenordt, sold from the collections of the duc de Penthièvre, château de Châteauneuf sur Loire, PIASA, Paris, 18 June 2008 (Euro 502,330) and on another commode with fruitwood marquetry, from the collections of the late Sir David Salomon, Christie's, London, 4 December 1969, (5,000 guineas).
Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (1639-1715) was born in the Dutch city of Guelder and establishes himself in Paris in the privileged quarter of the Temple. Naturalized in 1679, he is described as a 'Compagnon Menuisier en ébène, de religion catholique'. Of his three children only one survives childhood and becomes the celebrated ornemaniste Gilles-Marie Oppenordt ( 1672-1742). Oppenordt senior obtained workshops at the Manufacture Royal des Gobelins and in 1684 moved his atelier to the Galerie du Louvre when he became ébéniste ordinaire du roi.
Born in 1677, Gilles-Marie Oppenordt was sent by his father to study in Italy between 1692 and 1699. On his marriage in 1701, he received more than 62,000 livres, proof of the considerable prosperity of his father's atelier. Initially a pupil of Jean Bérain, Gilles-Marie Oppenordt gradually superseded his tutor's role as principal designer to his father.
The decorative compositions of Jean Bérain (1640-1711), Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du Roi, proved a fertile source for marquetry designs. In December 1674 Bérain succeeded to the position of Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi, making him one of the principal artists at the French court. Oppenordt supplied a desk (now in the Metropolitan Museum, inv: 1986.365.3), which was designed and possibly engraved by Jean Bérain and several other works by Oppenordt have been identified to have been made to designs by Bérain, including the sarcophagus- shaped commode at the Wallace Collection (F 405) and the knee-hole writing table (F57) in the same collection.
Incorporating designs by Gilles-Marie Oppenordt, as well as those of his predecessor, Jean Bérain, this magnificent commode illustrates the strong collaboration, between the ébéniste Ordinaire du Roi and the Dessinateur de la Chambre du Roi et des Menus-Plaisirs.
The design for the distinctive rams' heads can be found in the oeuvre of the ébéniste's son Gilles-Marie Oppendordt, one of the most important designers of the 18th century and the architect of the duc d'Orléans, featuring in the frontispiece of book ten of the oeuvres de G. M. Oppenordt, as engraved by Huquier. A drawing attributed by Peter Fuhring to the circle of Gilles-Marie Oppenordt shows a chute surmounted by a ram's head, which was almost certainly destined to embellish a piece of furniture (Cf. 'Design into Art: Drawings for Architecture and Ornament', The Lodewijk Hou Hakker Collection, vol. I, p. 370, fig. 577). The same ram's masks and handles appeared on a commode attributed to Oppenordt, sold from the collections of the duc de Penthièvre, château de Châteauneuf sur Loire, PIASA, Paris, 18 June 2008 (Euro 502,330) and on another commode with fruitwood marquetry, from the collections of the late Sir David Salomon, Christie's, London, 4 December 1969, (5,000 guineas).
Alexandre-Jean Oppenordt (1639-1715) was born in the Dutch city of Guelder and establishes himself in Paris in the privileged quarter of the Temple. Naturalized in 1679, he is described as a 'Compagnon Menuisier en ébène, de religion catholique'. Of his three children only one survives childhood and becomes the celebrated ornemaniste Gilles-Marie Oppenordt ( 1672-1742). Oppenordt senior obtained workshops at the Manufacture Royal des Gobelins and in 1684 moved his atelier to the Galerie du Louvre when he became ébéniste ordinaire du roi.
Born in 1677, Gilles-Marie Oppenordt was sent by his father to study in Italy between 1692 and 1699. On his marriage in 1701, he received more than 62,000 livres, proof of the considerable prosperity of his father's atelier. Initially a pupil of Jean Bérain, Gilles-Marie Oppenordt gradually superseded his tutor's role as principal designer to his father.
The decorative compositions of Jean Bérain (1640-1711), Dessinateur de la chambre et du cabinet du Roi, proved a fertile source for marquetry designs. In December 1674 Bérain succeeded to the position of Dessinateur de la Chambre et du Cabinet du Roi, making him one of the principal artists at the French court. Oppenordt supplied a desk (now in the Metropolitan Museum, inv: 1986.365.3), which was designed and possibly engraved by Jean Bérain and several other works by Oppenordt have been identified to have been made to designs by Bérain, including the sarcophagus- shaped commode at the Wallace Collection (F 405) and the knee-hole writing table (F57) in the same collection.
Incorporating designs by Gilles-Marie Oppenordt, as well as those of his predecessor, Jean Bérain, this magnificent commode illustrates the strong collaboration, between the ébéniste Ordinaire du Roi and the Dessinateur de la Chambre du Roi et des Menus-Plaisirs.