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Lot Essay
This transitional commode belongs to a select group of furniture of archetypal sober neoclassical form with fine geometric marquetry and distinctive mounts such as the pair of classical urns beneath a swagged drapery. This 'signature' mount can be found on many examples stamped or confidently attributed to the ébéniste Charles Topino (maître in 1773) and has traditionally been linked to the celebrated ébéniste. These include a commode illustrated in A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, p. 320, fig. 363, another illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Dijon, 1998, p.844, fig.A., and a further example sold from the Collection of Akram Ojjeh, Sotheby's Monaco, 25-26 June 1979, lot 68.
Further recorded examples featuring the same idiosyncratic mount are stamped by some of Topino's contemporaries such as Léonard Boudin (maître in 1761) or Jean-Baptiste Tuart (maître in 1741). These include a commode stamped by both Boudin and Tuart, executed circa 1775 and illustrated in A. Pradère (ibid., p. 272, fig. 295), and another similarly stamped, sold Phillips, New York, 5 December 2001, lot 56.
The presence of Boudin's stamp on a certain number of related examples may be explained by the fact that Boudin acted primarily as a marchand-ébéniste. Having gradually moved away from cabinet-marking to retailing furniture sub-contracted to his contemporaries and fellow ébénisted such as Topino, Tuart, Gilbert, Foullet or Macret. It is therefore most certainly in his capacity as retailer that Boudin affixed his stamp on the commode here offered.
Further recorded examples featuring the same idiosyncratic mount are stamped by some of Topino's contemporaries such as Léonard Boudin (maître in 1761) or Jean-Baptiste Tuart (maître in 1741). These include a commode stamped by both Boudin and Tuart, executed circa 1775 and illustrated in A. Pradère (ibid., p. 272, fig. 295), and another similarly stamped, sold Phillips, New York, 5 December 2001, lot 56.
The presence of Boudin's stamp on a certain number of related examples may be explained by the fact that Boudin acted primarily as a marchand-ébéniste. Having gradually moved away from cabinet-marking to retailing furniture sub-contracted to his contemporaries and fellow ébénisted such as Topino, Tuart, Gilbert, Foullet or Macret. It is therefore most certainly in his capacity as retailer that Boudin affixed his stamp on the commode here offered.