.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jean Desforges, maître before 1730.
The 'C couronné poinçon' was a tax mark used in France on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
Nicolaÿ (ibid.) claimed that this commode was a gift of Madame Adélaïde to the Genest family of Angoulême. Although impossible to substantiate, this may refer to the family of the Madame Campan (1752-1822), née Genest (or Genet). From modest origins, she became the tutor of the youngest daughters of Louis XV and later première femme de chambre of Marie-Antoinette - to whom she remained faithful until the last. Madame Campan is perhaps best remembered for her Mémoires, one of the most interesting books about the life at Versailles.
Perhaps as a result of Madame Campan's tutelage, Madame Marie-Adélaïde de France (d. 1800), fourth daughter of Louis XV, became a noted bibliophile, amassing a library of more than 10,000 volumes, all bound in red morocco leather.
JEAN DESFORGES
The skillfully chamfered panels of the backboards of this commode are typical of Desforges' constructional techniques. The small number of commodes by Desforges include that sold from the collection of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Houghton Hall, Norfolk, sold Christie's London, 8 December 1994, lot 69 and one sold Sotheby's New York, 13-15 October 1983, lot 472.
Son of the ébéniste Michel Desforges, Jean Desforges married the sister of the ébéniste Pottier. Appointed maître ébéniste before 1730, he worked in the rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine. The brother-in-law of Guillaume Martin, maître peintre and vernisseur du Roi, Jean Desforges executed principally lacquer and japanned case-furniture, almost certainly commissioned by a specific marchand-mercier, with a quality of construction characteristic of his oeuvre (M. Calin Demetrescu, "D.F. Un Ebéniste Identifié", L'Estampille/L'Objet d'art, October 1992, pp. 64-81).
As Desforges was related by marriage to the Martin family of vernisseurs and uncle of the ciseleur Guillaume Desforges, who worked for Latz, it seems most likely that the Martin family were the marchand-merciers for whom he worked, and that his nephew, Guillaume, provided the bronzes dorés. It was undoubtedly Martin Frères who would have provided the vernis Martin panels on this commode.
Bronzes by Desforges can be found equally on the work of other ébénistes such as Carel, Joseph, Migeon, Criaerd, Genty and Hansen. The presence of a label of the marchand-mercier, Darnault, on a commode en console stamped by Hansen (sold by the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Sotheby's, 8 May 1977, lot 441) might suggest that Darnault was behind Desforges' production.
PAINT ANALYSIS
There is a layer of refreshed overdecoration which sits on top of the original decoration which consists of black laquerwork with silver details. The original decoration has a pale grey ground of chalk, lead white and carbon black. On top is a thin layer of pure lamp black, then alternate layers of black laquer and clear lacquer. The technique is entirely consistent with eighteenth-century decorations and the silvering is sandwiched between laquer layers. The silver has tarnished and this perhaps explains the need for the refreshment.
The 'C couronné poinçon' was a tax mark used in France on any alloy containing copper between March 1745 and February 1749.
Nicolaÿ (ibid.) claimed that this commode was a gift of Madame Adélaïde to the Genest family of Angoulême. Although impossible to substantiate, this may refer to the family of the Madame Campan (1752-1822), née Genest (or Genet). From modest origins, she became the tutor of the youngest daughters of Louis XV and later première femme de chambre of Marie-Antoinette - to whom she remained faithful until the last. Madame Campan is perhaps best remembered for her Mémoires, one of the most interesting books about the life at Versailles.
Perhaps as a result of Madame Campan's tutelage, Madame Marie-Adélaïde de France (d. 1800), fourth daughter of Louis XV, became a noted bibliophile, amassing a library of more than 10,000 volumes, all bound in red morocco leather.
JEAN DESFORGES
The skillfully chamfered panels of the backboards of this commode are typical of Desforges' constructional techniques. The small number of commodes by Desforges include that sold from the collection of the Marquess of Cholmondeley, Houghton Hall, Norfolk, sold Christie's London, 8 December 1994, lot 69 and one sold Sotheby's New York, 13-15 October 1983, lot 472.
Son of the ébéniste Michel Desforges, Jean Desforges married the sister of the ébéniste Pottier. Appointed maître ébéniste before 1730, he worked in the rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine. The brother-in-law of Guillaume Martin, maître peintre and vernisseur du Roi, Jean Desforges executed principally lacquer and japanned case-furniture, almost certainly commissioned by a specific marchand-mercier, with a quality of construction characteristic of his oeuvre (M. Calin Demetrescu, "D.F. Un Ebéniste Identifié", L'Estampille/L'Objet d'art, October 1992, pp. 64-81).
As Desforges was related by marriage to the Martin family of vernisseurs and uncle of the ciseleur Guillaume Desforges, who worked for Latz, it seems most likely that the Martin family were the marchand-merciers for whom he worked, and that his nephew, Guillaume, provided the bronzes dorés. It was undoubtedly Martin Frères who would have provided the vernis Martin panels on this commode.
Bronzes by Desforges can be found equally on the work of other ébénistes such as Carel, Joseph, Migeon, Criaerd, Genty and Hansen. The presence of a label of the marchand-mercier, Darnault, on a commode en console stamped by Hansen (sold by the Earl of Rosebery, Mentmore Towers, Sotheby's, 8 May 1977, lot 441) might suggest that Darnault was behind Desforges' production.
PAINT ANALYSIS
There is a layer of refreshed overdecoration which sits on top of the original decoration which consists of black laquerwork with silver details. The original decoration has a pale grey ground of chalk, lead white and carbon black. On top is a thin layer of pure lamp black, then alternate layers of black laquer and clear lacquer. The technique is entirely consistent with eighteenth-century decorations and the silvering is sandwiched between laquer layers. The silver has tarnished and this perhaps explains the need for the refreshment.