Lot Essay
With its distinctive central oval panel of cube parquetry, this commode is related to the work of the ébéniste Ferdinand Bury (maître in 1775). The distinctive characteristic of an ormolu-bound circular or oval reserve filled with parquetry, along with faux-fluted legs, are similarities seen on a group of commodes and cylinder bureaux stamped by Bury. A slightly breakfronted commode with a circular panel of cube parquetry by Bury is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe siecle, Paris, 1989, p. 126, and a further commode with a more vertical oval panel by Bury was sold from the Estate of the late Giuseppe Rossi, Sotheby's, London, 12 March 1999, lot 1274. The Rossi commode was subsequently sold with an identical commode stamped Bury (as a pair) from the collection of Monsieur et Madame Luigi Anton Laura, Sotheby's Paris, 27 June 2001, lot 72.