Lot Essay
The English origin of these commodes is suggested by their restrained Louis XV shape and marquetry tops. This theory is supported by the use of deal for the carcase. The coarse interior finish of the sides and the partly pegged construction of the back suggest that they were made by an immigrant craftsman, possibly a German.
The angle mounts are of a type much used by Joseph Baumhauer (maître circa 1749) on contemporary furniture, for example on a bureau plat illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 454. The handles are probably English; the lion-mask backplates are the same as those on a commode by Christopher Fuhrlohg in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (see: L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, no. 9, p. 107, fig. 5). We are grateful to Miss Lucy Wood for this information.
The angle mounts are of a type much used by Joseph Baumhauer (maître circa 1749) on contemporary furniture, for example on a bureau plat illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1987, p. 454. The handles are probably English; the lion-mask backplates are the same as those on a commode by Christopher Fuhrlohg in the Lady Lever Art Gallery (see: L. Wood, Catalogue of Commodes, London, 1994, no. 9, p. 107, fig. 5). We are grateful to Miss Lucy Wood for this information.