Lot Essay
This serpentined commode reflects the mid-18th Century fashion for curvacious 'French' furniture embellished with exotic veneers and ormolu mounts. This was popularised by Thomas Chippendale's, The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director, 1754-1762 and Mayhew and Ince's, The Universal System of Household Furniture, 1762, whose plate XLIII illustrates a 'Commode Chest of Drawers' with this shape of top. This particular type of serpentined commode was often made by the Tottenham Court Road ébéniste Pierre Langlois (d. 1767) whose trade-card displayed a marquetry commode and announced that he made 'Fine...commodes...inlaid in the politest manner'.