Lot Essay
It is interesting to note the similarity of style between this commode and a porcelain-mounted bureau plat stamped E. Levasseur (for Levasseur Jeune) and thought to date from 1830-40, formerly in the Roberto Polo collection and sold Sotheby's and Ader Tajan, Paris, 7 November 1991, lot 150. Levasseur Jeune, grandson of Etienne Levasseur (1721-98), made use of his grandfather's stock of bronzes and continued to produce furniture in the 18th Century spirit of excellent craftsmanship up until the mid-19th Century, an era of renewed interest in the Louis XV and Louis XVI styles. He also supplied furniture to the well-known English dealer, Edward Holmes Baldock, who delivered a bureau plat, stamped E. Levasseur and identical to the one in the Polo Collection, to the 5th Duke of buccleuch (1806-1884) on 16 July 1830. this bureau plat is now in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Bowhill.
Levasseur Jeune also specialised in the restoration of Boulle furniture on which he placed his grandfather's stamp. This appears on a number of pieces of this type in important English collections such as on a pair of meubles d'appui in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, delivered between 1830 and 1843. It also appears on a number of pieces at Stratfield Saye bought by the Duke of Wellington in 1818. It is possible that this particular commode, although unstamped, was made by Levasseur Jeune and that he perhaps made use of earlier elements.
The porcelain plaques are of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain. Thirteen bear the date letter M for 1765 within interlaced L's, one has possibly later marks and decoration, and the remainder are unmarked. Five measure 6.5cm. x 11.5cm., ten measure 14cm. x 12cm., four 14cm. x 5.5cm. and two 6.5cm. x 5.5cm. Five are signed L, probably for Louis-François Lécot, two further probably by Lécot but with mark obscured, two are signed by Guillaume Noël, two with P for an unidentified painter, one ca for an unidentified painter, two by Charles-Louis Méreau, and the one possibly with later decoration signed T.
It is almost certain that the Marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier would have bought these plaques from the Sèvres factory. He appears to have been almost the only purchaser of plaques in the 1760's and by 1770 had bought 1400 at a cost of 42,000 livres. His total purchases of Sèvres porcelain between 1758 and 1770 amounted to 700,000 livres. The ébénistes which he used predominantly at this period for ormolu-mounted furniture were BVRB, RVLC or Carlin.
Marks from earlier fixings as well as a variety of numbers on the backs of these plaques indicate that they were originally mounted on another piece of furniture. This is also supported by the fact that the plaques are mainly decorated in pairs. It is interesting to compare a Louis XVI table à jeu by Carlin with identical plaques, with date-letters ranging between 1763 and 1775, sold by the Marquess of Lansdowne, Sotheby's London, 11 December 1970, lot 46 and therefore with the same provenance as this lot. One of the plaques on the Lansdowne table à jeu bore the inscription Plaque qui appartient à M. Poirier pour en faire 19 pareilles. Very similar plaques are also found on a bureau plat in the Wallace Collection, London (catalogue No. F316), the plaques on which are discussed R. Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, vol. II, pp.885-886, and on a bureau plat in the Widener Collection, Philadelphia illustrated S.de Ricci, Louis XVI Furniture, Stuttgart, n.d., p.109
The combination of large and smaller rectangular plaques, as on this lot, also appears on a bureau plat in the Bache Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild (S. de Ricci, op. cit, p.110, and R. Savill, op. cit. p.870). This bureau plat was probably originally en suite with the cartonnier in the Wallace Collection (F71). The smaller plaques occupy the section above the central drawers. This feature also appears on a bureau plat stamped Joseph, formerly in the Collection of the Duke of Buccleuch and now in the Huntington Collection, California (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1979, p.33, fig. 53.
Levasseur Jeune also specialised in the restoration of Boulle furniture on which he placed his grandfather's stamp. This appears on a number of pieces of this type in important English collections such as on a pair of meubles d'appui in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Boughton House, Northamptonshire, delivered between 1830 and 1843. It also appears on a number of pieces at Stratfield Saye bought by the Duke of Wellington in 1818. It is possible that this particular commode, although unstamped, was made by Levasseur Jeune and that he perhaps made use of earlier elements.
The porcelain plaques are of Sèvres soft-paste porcelain. Thirteen bear the date letter M for 1765 within interlaced L's, one has possibly later marks and decoration, and the remainder are unmarked. Five measure 6.5cm. x 11.5cm., ten measure 14cm. x 12cm., four 14cm. x 5.5cm. and two 6.5cm. x 5.5cm. Five are signed L, probably for Louis-François Lécot, two further probably by Lécot but with mark obscured, two are signed by Guillaume Noël, two with P for an unidentified painter, one ca for an unidentified painter, two by Charles-Louis Méreau, and the one possibly with later decoration signed T.
It is almost certain that the Marchand-mercier Simon-Philippe Poirier would have bought these plaques from the Sèvres factory. He appears to have been almost the only purchaser of plaques in the 1760's and by 1770 had bought 1400 at a cost of 42,000 livres. His total purchases of Sèvres porcelain between 1758 and 1770 amounted to 700,000 livres. The ébénistes which he used predominantly at this period for ormolu-mounted furniture were BVRB, RVLC or Carlin.
Marks from earlier fixings as well as a variety of numbers on the backs of these plaques indicate that they were originally mounted on another piece of furniture. This is also supported by the fact that the plaques are mainly decorated in pairs. It is interesting to compare a Louis XVI table à jeu by Carlin with identical plaques, with date-letters ranging between 1763 and 1775, sold by the Marquess of Lansdowne, Sotheby's London, 11 December 1970, lot 46 and therefore with the same provenance as this lot. One of the plaques on the Lansdowne table à jeu bore the inscription Plaque qui appartient à M. Poirier pour en faire 19 pareilles. Very similar plaques are also found on a bureau plat in the Wallace Collection, London (catalogue No. F316), the plaques on which are discussed R. Savill, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Sèvres Porcelain, London, 1988, vol. II, pp.885-886, and on a bureau plat in the Widener Collection, Philadelphia illustrated S.de Ricci, Louis XVI Furniture, Stuttgart, n.d., p.109
The combination of large and smaller rectangular plaques, as on this lot, also appears on a bureau plat in the Bache Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, formerly in the collection of Alfred de Rothschild (S. de Ricci, op. cit, p.110, and R. Savill, op. cit. p.870). This bureau plat was probably originally en suite with the cartonnier in the Wallace Collection (F71). The smaller plaques occupy the section above the central drawers. This feature also appears on a bureau plat stamped Joseph, formerly in the Collection of the Duke of Buccleuch and now in the Huntington Collection, California (R. Wark, French Decorative Art in the Huntington Collection, San Marino, 1979, p.33, fig. 53.