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Lot Essay
Balthazar Coulon, maître before 1740.
Although stamped by Coulon, this commode was actually delivered in December 1765 by the ebéniste de la Couronne, Gilles Joubert, for Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu who had succeeded in 1767 his father (and his grandfather) as intendant et contrôleur général des Meubles de la Couronne, a post which he carried out until 1783. It was delivered, along with two other pieces which follow the numbering of the commode, a secretaire and a pair of encoignures (nos 2379 & 2380), for the personal apartment of Fontanieu in the hôtel du Garde-Meuble Royal in Paris. Although the page corresponding to its delivery in the Journal du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne is missing, it is mentioned briefly in a summary of the Journal du Garde-Meuble. Moreover, it is described in detail in a general inventory of furniture and bronzes of the palace of Versailles, in 1790, that description repeating word by word (as it always did) the former entry in the Journal du Garde-Meuble Royal:
"N0 2378. Une commode de forme à la régence en bois de palissandre et amaranthe dessin à mosaique encadri de panneaux de bronze rocaille, le dessus de breche d'Alep, la devanture ' deux grands tiroirs garnis d'entrées de serrure et poignées fixes, sabots à tiges et chutes, le tout de bronze rocaille doré d'or moulu, ladite de 4 pieds 6 pouces [146cm], 26 pouces de large [70cm], sur 33 pouces de hauteur [89cm] " (Archives nationales, O1 3358, fol. 8).
The subcontracting practices of the ébénistes de la Couronne are well established and Joubert was no exception. He repeatedly used the work of his fellow ébénistes, such as RVLC, Boudin, Dubois, Criard, Deloose, Macret, Bayer, Cramer and Péridiez. With Coulon, such subcontracting practices would be even more likely, since he was very close to Joubert. When the latter's wife, Michèle Collet, died in 1771, Coulon was entrusted, along with Denizot, with the inventory of the estate and when Joubert himself died in 1775, Coulon was named his executor (exécuteur testamentaire).
The current design of the marquetry is probably imitating the original 'mosaique' design of inlay.
Although stamped by Coulon, this commode was actually delivered in December 1765 by the ebéniste de la Couronne, Gilles Joubert, for Pierre-Elisabeth de Fontanieu who had succeeded in 1767 his father (and his grandfather) as intendant et contrôleur général des Meubles de la Couronne, a post which he carried out until 1783. It was delivered, along with two other pieces which follow the numbering of the commode, a secretaire and a pair of encoignures (nos 2379 & 2380), for the personal apartment of Fontanieu in the hôtel du Garde-Meuble Royal in Paris. Although the page corresponding to its delivery in the Journal du Garde-Meuble de la Couronne is missing, it is mentioned briefly in a summary of the Journal du Garde-Meuble. Moreover, it is described in detail in a general inventory of furniture and bronzes of the palace of Versailles, in 1790, that description repeating word by word (as it always did) the former entry in the Journal du Garde-Meuble Royal:
"N0 2378. Une commode de forme à la régence en bois de palissandre et amaranthe dessin à mosaique encadri de panneaux de bronze rocaille, le dessus de breche d'Alep, la devanture ' deux grands tiroirs garnis d'entrées de serrure et poignées fixes, sabots à tiges et chutes, le tout de bronze rocaille doré d'or moulu, ladite de 4 pieds 6 pouces [146cm], 26 pouces de large [70cm], sur 33 pouces de hauteur [89cm] " (Archives nationales, O1 3358, fol. 8).
The subcontracting practices of the ébénistes de la Couronne are well established and Joubert was no exception. He repeatedly used the work of his fellow ébénistes, such as RVLC, Boudin, Dubois, Criard, Deloose, Macret, Bayer, Cramer and Péridiez. With Coulon, such subcontracting practices would be even more likely, since he was very close to Joubert. When the latter's wife, Michèle Collet, died in 1771, Coulon was entrusted, along with Denizot, with the inventory of the estate and when Joubert himself died in 1775, Coulon was named his executor (exécuteur testamentaire).
The current design of the marquetry is probably imitating the original 'mosaique' design of inlay.