CIRCA 1765-70

Details

A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, AMARANTH AND MARQUETRY COMMODE
CIRCA 1765-70
With later brêche d'alep marble top above two drawers inlaid with Classical architectural landscape with mother-of-pearl, on cabriole legs with lion's paw feet, the sides also with landscapes
34 in. (86 cm.) high, 50½ in. (128.5 cm.) wide, 24 in. (61 cm.) deep

Provenance

Acquired from Dalva Brothers, Inc., New York, 26 July 1979.

Special notice

Prospective purchasers are advised that several countries prohibit the importation of property containing materials from endangered species, including but not limited to coral, ivory and tortoiseshell. Accordingly, prospective purchasers should familiarize themselves with relevant customs regulations prior to bidding if they intend to import this lot into another country.

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Lot Essay

The charming marquetry scenes which decorate this elegant commode combine classical landscapes with mythological figures. They are found on a group of furniture, which includes the following commode by François Bayer and incorporate panels of stained wood which is often green as well as some ivory or mother-of-pearl inlay as accents. These designs were often based on engraved sources, and Geoffrey de Bellaigue discusses the possibility that a group of specialist marqueteurs would have supplied marquetry panels to marchands-merciers as well as to other ébénistes while large workshops may have had their own specific craftsmen for such work (G. de Bellaigue, 'Ruins in Marquetry', Apollo, January, 1968, pp.12-16 and G. de Bellaigue, 'Engravings and the French Eighteenth-Century Marqueteur', Burlington Magazine, May 1965, pp. 240-250 and July 1965, pp. 356-363).

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