BY PIERRE-ANTOINE FOULLET, CIRCA 1770-75

Pierre-Antoine Foullet, maître 1765.

This commode belongs to a group of case furniture stamped or attributed to Pierre-Antoine Foullet all of which share the distinctive neo-classical oval frame mounts and Transitional form of this commode.

PIERRE-ANTOINE FOULLET (1732-1780)

Pierre-Antoine Foullet followed his father Antoine into the family business as an ébéniste on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and became maître in 1765. However, unlike his father, who specialised in Boulle marquetry clock cases, Pierre-Antoine focused on case furniture of a much grander scale and ambition. He is best known for his distinctive Transitional commodes, secrétaires à abattant and encoignures which now appear in famed collections of French furniture, including the Palace of Versailles and the Wallace Collection.

He is recorded as working for the ébéniste du roi Gilles Joubert (1689-1775) on a pair of encoignures (now in the Wallace Collection) supplied in September 1773 to the Comte d’Artois at Versailles together with a commode (whereabouts unknown). Foullet's relationship with Joubert inevitably led to him supplying another commode in 1768 for the Royal family, this time for the reconfigured private apartment of Madame Victoire, daughter of Louis XV. The commode remains on display at the Palace of Versailles. However, these more lavish pieces came at huge expense and upon his father’s death in 1775, Pierre-Antoine was forced to transfer his portion of the estate directly to the ébéniste Léonard Boudin to settle his debts. (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, 1989, pp. 275-279). He is not recorded as producing work after 1780.

THE MODEL

The form of the present commode takes its origins from the ground-breaking series of commodes à la grècque which Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763) supplied to Madame de Pompadour from 1760 whilst employed as ébéniste du roi (X. Salmon, Mme de Pompadour et les Arts, Paris, 2002, pp. 351-352). Representative of his adoption of the 'antique' style, this newly-developed model is typified by its rectangular, unadorned form resting on high, slightly curved legs. Madame de Pompadour's were veneered in dark and smooth mahogany or bois satiné accentuating the modern feeling of this innovative model. However, Oeben would soon execute various commodes of this shape embellished with various parquetry patterns, which he would combine with his beautiful marquetry 'pictures' (Pradere, op. cit., p. 252). Various ébénistes incorporated this modern type into their own oeuvre, notably Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix (RVLC), Jacques Dautriche and Pierre-Antoine Foullet.

Foullet’s distinct treatment of the commode à la grècque is best identified by his use of ribbon-tied oval medallions filled with sycamore and fruitwood marquetry designs, which are given prominence by substantial ormolu mounts in the form of laurel leaf frames. The effect creates the illusion of the piece being hung with paintings within giltwood frames. A further defining feature is his use of the steaming cassolette mount to the apron and the guilloche and rosette mounts to the frieze. Whilst there are similarities between the commodes and the other case furniture with these features it is most relevant here to discuss the breakfront commodes. No two are identical but there are a number that feature various combinations of these elements that are worthy of mention.

There are two commodes which have almost identical marquetry designs to the commode presented here. One was sold from the Collection of Mrs. Enid A. Haupt, Sotheby’s New York, 4 May 1984, lot 65 and subsequently 20 November 1993, lot 257 and the other was formerly in the William A. Clark Collection now in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. All three feature three oval medallions to the drawer fronts: the central medallion depicts a gentleman kneeling at the feet of a maiden (the Haupt commode is a mirror image of the present commode); flanked by two smaller oval medallions filled with vases of flowers; the concave-shaped sides are centred by a further identical medallion also with a vase of flowers.

Despite these similarities to the marquetry there are differences to the ormolu. The present commode does not display the heavy ormolu fluting to the breakfront edges and canted angles; nor does it display the acanthus leaf mount and ormolu-banding along the apron and bottom drawer. Furthermore the pattern to the guilloche mounts differs on the Haupt commode but is shared by the present example, the commode in the William A. Clark Collection and a third Foullet commode sold by the Estate of the late Eva Primrose (1892-1987), Countess of Rosebery, at Sotheby’s, London, 14 June 1991, lot 180.

Foullet was well-known for the high-quality and generous neo-classical mounts with which he adorned his furniture. Many of them were cast and chased by bronzier Claude-Bernard Héban (d.1774) from mounts his father Antoine produced, after designs by Charles de Lafosse (1696-1716) or Jacques de Lajoüe (1687-1761). These would have come at a great expense and his decision to use them with such impact and integrity illustrates his appreciation of the importance of gilded bronze to contemporary amateurs and collectors (S.M. Bennett and C. Sargentson (eds.), French Art of the Eighteenth Century at the Huntington, 2008, pp. 99-100).

Further examples of commodes within this group include one sold from the collection of Henry Ford II, Christie's, New York, 12 November 1981, lot 214 and another at the Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino (R. Wark, French Decorative Arts in the Huntington Collection, 1979, p. 112). Another at Fredricksborg Castle, Denmark (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classisicm in France, 1974, pl. 132). Another related commode from the collection of Lord Kinnaird was sold Christie's, London, 22 June 1989, lot 105.