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Lot Essay
Jean-François Oeben maître in 1761.
'COMMODES A LA GRECQUE'
This distinctive form of commode, known as a 'commode à la grecque' and executed in either mahogany or bois satiné, was almost exclusively supplied by les frères Oeben to two clients: the duc de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour.
The duc de Choiseul acquired the château de Chanteloup in 1763, the year of Jean-François Oeben's death, and he therefore turned to his brother, the ébéniste Simon Oeben (maître in 1769) to supply the furniture, a fact which is testified to by the numerous pieces stamped by both ébénistes with the Chanteloup inventory mark. However, it is entirely possible that Choiseul had already commissioned Jean-François Oeben to supply such furnishings for his Parisian hôtel on his return from his Embassy in Vienna in 1759. Following the death of the duc de Choiseul, the château de Chanteloup was sold to the duc de Penthièvre and he subsequently stamped the contents with his marque au feu. The furniture from his Parisian hôtel, however, was sold at auction and much of this was purchased by the Garde-Meuble, including the commode of this form sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 26-27 February 1992, lot 220 (FF 999,000). Another Choiseul commode, attributed to Oeben and painted with a closely related inventory mark 'No. 10', was sold anonymously in Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, 24 June 1985, lot 166.
Madame de Pompadour was, however, undoubtedly Oeben's most important client. In the inventory drawn up following her death in 1764, no less than 17 commodes à la grecque are recorded, all supplied by Oeben between 1761-3 for the châteaux de Versailles, Auvilliers and Ménars. The importance of Madame de Pompadour's patronage in the creation of this form is furthermore underlined by the inventory taken following Oeben's own demise in 1763, in which '710 livres weight of mahogany in 4 planks and one sheet of the same wood 9 pieds long' are mentioned, 'the remains of the mahogany bought by Oeben on the orders of the Marquise de Pompadour, and to whom it belonged'.
In the chambre à coucher de la Marquise at Ménars, the notaire records 'Une commode à la grecque de bois d'acajou avec son dessus de marbre 180 livres'; in the later inventory of the same château taken following the death of the marquise's brother and heir, the marquis de Marigny, amongst several further commodes of this form is listed 'Une commode à deux grands tiroirs avec batants de coté de bois d'acajou tigré orné d'anneaux de cuivre doré avec son dessus de marbre d'Italie veiné'.
Closely related commodes include those sold anonymously in these Rooms, 12 December 1996, lot 205 and 12 April 1984, lot 148; those illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'Art et la manière des Maîtres Ebénistes du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1956, p. 344-5, figs. c and h; another illustrated in F. J. B. Watson, Louis XVI Furniture, London, 1960, pl. 34, and another in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers From Louis XIV to the Revolution, Paris, 1989, p. 260, fig. 275.
'COMMODES A LA GRECQUE'
This distinctive form of commode, known as a 'commode à la grecque' and executed in either mahogany or bois satiné, was almost exclusively supplied by les frères Oeben to two clients: the duc de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour.
The duc de Choiseul acquired the château de Chanteloup in 1763, the year of Jean-François Oeben's death, and he therefore turned to his brother, the ébéniste Simon Oeben (maître in 1769) to supply the furniture, a fact which is testified to by the numerous pieces stamped by both ébénistes with the Chanteloup inventory mark. However, it is entirely possible that Choiseul had already commissioned Jean-François Oeben to supply such furnishings for his Parisian hôtel on his return from his Embassy in Vienna in 1759. Following the death of the duc de Choiseul, the château de Chanteloup was sold to the duc de Penthièvre and he subsequently stamped the contents with his marque au feu. The furniture from his Parisian hôtel, however, was sold at auction and much of this was purchased by the Garde-Meuble, including the commode of this form sold anonymously at Sotheby's Monaco, 26-27 February 1992, lot 220 (FF 999,000). Another Choiseul commode, attributed to Oeben and painted with a closely related inventory mark 'No. 10', was sold anonymously in Paris, Ader Picard Tajan, 24 June 1985, lot 166.
Madame de Pompadour was, however, undoubtedly Oeben's most important client. In the inventory drawn up following her death in 1764, no less than 17 commodes à la grecque are recorded, all supplied by Oeben between 1761-3 for the châteaux de Versailles, Auvilliers and Ménars. The importance of Madame de Pompadour's patronage in the creation of this form is furthermore underlined by the inventory taken following Oeben's own demise in 1763, in which '710 livres weight of mahogany in 4 planks and one sheet of the same wood 9 pieds long' are mentioned, 'the remains of the mahogany bought by Oeben on the orders of the Marquise de Pompadour, and to whom it belonged'.
In the chambre à coucher de la Marquise at Ménars, the notaire records 'Une commode à la grecque de bois d'acajou avec son dessus de marbre 180 livres'; in the later inventory of the same château taken following the death of the marquise's brother and heir, the marquis de Marigny, amongst several further commodes of this form is listed 'Une commode à deux grands tiroirs avec batants de coté de bois d'acajou tigré orné d'anneaux de cuivre doré avec son dessus de marbre d'Italie veiné'.
Closely related commodes include those sold anonymously in these Rooms, 12 December 1996, lot 205 and 12 April 1984, lot 148; those illustrated in J. Nicolay, L'Art et la manière des Maîtres Ebénistes du XVIIIe siècle, Paris, 1956, p. 344-5, figs. c and h; another illustrated in F. J. B. Watson, Louis XVI Furniture, London, 1960, pl. 34, and another in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers From Louis XIV to the Revolution, Paris, 1989, p. 260, fig. 275.