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Lot Essay
Mathieu Criaerd, maître in 1747
This commode with rare polychrome decorated Chinese lacquer is a suberb example of the work of Mathieu Criaerd at the height of his powers, when this ébéniste delivered a number of masterpieces to the Royal family, all commissioned through the famous marchand-mercier, Thomas-Joachim Hébert. The extremely elegant, almost cartilaginous mounts are typical of this particular phase of Louis XV lacquer commodes.
The prototype of the series of lacquer commodes with tripartite fronts produced in the late 1730s and throughout the 1740s, is the example by Bernard II van Risenburgh (c. 1696-1766) delivered in 1737, again by Hébert, to the Queen, Marie Leczinska, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which is now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1985-1989, Musée du Louvre, 1990, No. 68; D. Alcouffe a.o., Le mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon 1993, No. 42).
Criaerd's best-known lacquered commode is the one executed in blue and white vernis and mounted in silvered bronze, which Hébert delivered in 1742 for the bedroom of Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Mailly, at the château of Choisy, now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1990-1994, Musée du Louvre 1995, No. 47; Alcouffe a.o., No. 43).
The present commode is distinguished by the striking panel of polychrome Chinese lacquer used to decorate the front including a rare blue colour. A similar commode with related lacquer was sold at Christie's, London, 9 December 2004, lot 200 (£195,650). Panels that are similar in design were employed by him on a commode and a corner cupboard sold at Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 1936, Lots 242 and 244.
This commode with rare polychrome decorated Chinese lacquer is a suberb example of the work of Mathieu Criaerd at the height of his powers, when this ébéniste delivered a number of masterpieces to the Royal family, all commissioned through the famous marchand-mercier, Thomas-Joachim Hébert. The extremely elegant, almost cartilaginous mounts are typical of this particular phase of Louis XV lacquer commodes.
The prototype of the series of lacquer commodes with tripartite fronts produced in the late 1730s and throughout the 1740s, is the example by Bernard II van Risenburgh (c. 1696-1766) delivered in 1737, again by Hébert, to the Queen, Marie Leczinska, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which is now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1985-1989, Musée du Louvre, 1990, No. 68; D. Alcouffe a.o., Le mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon 1993, No. 42).
Criaerd's best-known lacquered commode is the one executed in blue and white vernis and mounted in silvered bronze, which Hébert delivered in 1742 for the bedroom of Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Mailly, at the château of Choisy, now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1990-1994, Musée du Louvre 1995, No. 47; Alcouffe a.o., No. 43).
The present commode is distinguished by the striking panel of polychrome Chinese lacquer used to decorate the front including a rare blue colour. A similar commode with related lacquer was sold at Christie's, London, 9 December 2004, lot 200 (£195,650). Panels that are similar in design were employed by him on a commode and a corner cupboard sold at Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 1936, Lots 242 and 244.