An ormolu and porcelain-mounted mahogany commode a vantaux

IN THE LOUIS XVI STYLE, AFTER THE MODEL BY BENNEMAN AND STOCKEL, LAST QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

Details

An ormolu and porcelain-mounted mahogany commode a vantaux
In the Louis XVI Style, After the model by Benneman and Stockel, Last quarter 19th Century
Decorated overall with scrolling foliage, the stepped eared white marble top above a frieze centred by a lion's mask and fitted with three drawers, above a pair of doors centred with a medallion showing the Infant Bacchus carried by a satyr and accompanied by a menad, within a semi-elliptical panel with conforming spandrels, flanked by stop-fluted columnar uprights with acanthus capital, the interior fitted with six drawers, each side decorated with a further medallion, to the left hand side with putti ploughing, to the right-hand side with putti planting, above a plinth decorated with tasseled drapery swags, on toupie feet with pine cone finials
72 in. (183 cm.) wide; 38¾ in. (98.3 cm.) high; 28½ in. (72.3 cm) deep

Lot Essay

The commode's prototype, which was executed for Marie Antoinette and is now in the Queen's apartment at Fontainebleau, was altered in the 1780s by Guillaume Beneman (Mâitre in 1785) and its facade was later embellished with a Sèvres biscuit plaque (see P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du 18e Siecle, Paris, 1989, p. 59, No. E). Beneman was also involved in the manufacture of cases for a clock and barometer supplied for the Queen's Versailles apartments, and these were embellished with Bacchic bas reliefs like those on the commode's sides (similar bronze roundels were sold Christie's, 5 July 1994, lot 106). Another commode of this pattern, but with a bronze central roundel, was sold in these rooms 31 October 1996, lot 229.

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