A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY COMMODE
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY COMMODE
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY COMMODE
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A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY COMMODE

BY GODEFROY DESTER, CIRCA 1785

Details
A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY COMMODE
BY GODEFROY DESTER, CIRCA 1785
With shaped white and grey marble top above a frieze drawer and a hinged cabinet door enclosing three long drawers, stamped G. DESTER to left upright
38 in. (97 cm.) high, 57 ½ in. (146 cm.) wide, 24 in. (61 cm.) deep
Provenance
Collection of S.A.S. Princess Catherine de Croÿ, château d' Azy, France.
Acquired from Bernard Steinitz, Paris.
Special notice
Please note lots marked with a square will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) on the last day of the sale. Lots are not available for collection at Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services until after the third business day following the sale. All lots will be stored free of charge for 30 days from the auction date at Christie’s Rockefeller Center or Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Operation hours for collection from either location are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday-Friday. After 30 days from the auction date property may be moved at Christie’s discretion. Please contact Post-Sale Services to confirm the location of your property prior to collection. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information.

Lot Essay

Godefroy Dester, maître in 1774.

Based in the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine until the 1790s, Godefroy Dester ran a notable and prosperous workshop. In addition to the more conventional marquetry furniture, Dester’s oeuvre also comprised a small number of beautifully veneered commodes, secrétaires and cartonniers, which demonstrate the particular care he took in choosing the most exotic veneers. The use of veneers such as flamed, plum-pudding or other lustrous types of mahogany, set against simple yet finely-chased gilt bronze mounts, allow us to relate Dester's production to that of Adam Weisweiler or Guillaume Beneman. A closely related pair of commodes by Dester, formerly in the collection of Lord Redesdale, was sold Christie's, Monaco, 20 June 1992, lot 67.

Dester is recorded to have supplied furniture to the Royal family. The comte d’Artois commissioned several pieces from the ébéniste, including a commode supplied in 1778 for his bedchamber in the pavilion of Bagatelle, and his masterpiece, the superb mahogany commode fitted with porcelain plaques depicting floral bouquets, and adorned with rich gilt-bronze mounts modeled as caryatids and scrolls, delivered in 1785 for his bedchamber at the Palais du Temple (sold Christie’s, London, 17 June 1987, lot 70).

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