Lot Essay
This superb transitional commode is one of two commodes of near identical design which have come to the market in recent years; both almost certainly originate from the same atelier. Whilst the sophisticated form of the commode was one of the most popular during the closing years of the reign of Louis XV, the superb craftsmanship and bold mode of decoration set this example and its counterpart out as almost certainly produced by the same highly skilled craftsman, yet as neither is signed the identity of the ébéniste remains an enigma. Both exhibit the same highly original central oval landscape marquetry panel as well as sharing the same robust oval mount to frame it. Perhaps the commodes’ most distinctive feature is the diaper-pattern ground; similar treatments were employed by some of the greatest ébénistes of the later 18th century, such as Jean-François Leleu (maître 1764), Jean-Henri Riesner (maître 1768) and Martin Carlin (maître 1766). The closest comparison can be drawn with the work of Carlin who used a closely related diaper-pattern inlaid ground, similarly framed with ormolu borders to decorate a monumental commode which is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 1989, p.163, and which was subsequently sold, Collection Djahanguir Riahi, Christie’s, London, 6 December 2012, lot 5; the near identical unsigned commode was sold Poulain le Fur, Paris, 9 December 1999, lot 160.