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Lot Essay
This spectacular and apparently unique commode is a striking example of opulently mounted English furniture in the French taste. It can be attributed to the emigré cabinet-maker Pierre Langlois (d.1781). Langlois was recorded working at 39 Tottenham Court Road in London from 1759. Supplying a wide range of newly fashionable French style furniture to his impressive clientele, which included the Dukes of Bedford, Northumberland and Horace Walpole. He was born to French emigré parents, and probably trained in the Parisian workshop of the ébéniste, Jean-Francois Oeben. His French background is revealed on his trade card, which incorporates various examples of furniture and objects in the French or 'modern' style within an elaborate rococo cartouche. The text appears in both French and English and while the English text advertises all Sorts of Fine Cabinets and Commodes, made & inlaid in the Politest manner with Brass & Tortoiseshell..., the corresponding text in French is actually more explicit in stating the various types of furniture produced by the workshop and lists floral marquetry and gilt-bronze mounts as a specialty of the workshop.
The characteristics commonly associated with his workshop seen on this commode include its slightly bombé form, the skillful diagonal and quartered veneers, as well as the paneled construction of the back, which is also black-painted, another leitmotif of Langlois's oeuvre (see P. Thornton and W. Rieder ‘Pierre Langlois, Part II’, Connoisseur, February 1972). The innovation of Langlois’s workshop and use of luxurious materials is reflected in another unique and extraordinary commode, mounted with precious Italian pietre dure panels, recently sold in the Collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II, Christie’s, New York, 30 March 2021, lot 37 ($337,500). This example is one of the most grandiose works in Pierre Langlois’ oeuvre and was made during the same time at the height of his career.
THE ROCOCO ORNAMENT
The spectacular ormolu mounts on the façade and sides of this unique commode with flower-filled urns, exotic birds and putti, employ the playful and universal language of the rococo which spread throughout Europe in the 1730s-1750s, propagated by designers such as François de Cuvilliès, Claude Audran and Pierre-Edme Babel. Similar levitating putti, free-flowing vinery, exotic birds and eccentric classical urns feature in ceiling boiseries in the Château de Sans-Souci, Potsdam and the Residenz, Wurzburg (see A. Gruber, L'Art Décoratif en Europe: Classique et Baroque, Paris, 1992, pp. 218 and 366). Another direct inspiration could be the oeuvre of the Parisian ébéniste Charles Cressent, who like Langlois particularly emphasized the exuberant sculpturality of his ormolu, which he famously contravened guild regulations by casting in his own workshop. Related commodes by Cressent include his ‘commode aux enfants balançant un singe’, circa 1749-1755 now in the Muséu du Louvre [OA 6868]. Another related commode by Cressent in the Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon Manor is mounted with trailing oak branches suspending reclining cherubs positioned on either side of a central urn (see G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, vol. I, p. 200, cat. 44).
ATTRIBUTION OF THE MOUNTS
Langlois employed the bronzier Dominique Jean who almost certainly provided these elaborate and apparently unique ormolu mounts. Also listed at the 39 Tottenham Court Road address, Dominique married Langlois's daughter, as is noted by Matthew Boulton in a diary entry of 1769. In 1771, he employed Daniel Langlois, thought to be Pierre's son, as apprentice in his workshop.
While Dominique was employed by Pierre Langlois, he evidently worked independently, and was employed through William Gaubert at Carlton House (1783-86), supplying chandeliers and mounts, chasing and gilding. He also worked as a primary gilder for the Duke of Northumberland, another Langlois client, and is known to have provided furniture mounts in the 1780s for the Swedish cabinet-maker Christian Furloh [later Christopher Furlogh], who worked at 24 Tottenham Court Road circa 1769-1785 (Thornton and Rieder, op. cit., part I, November 1971, p.286). The use of ormolu mounts in the early 1760s was a relatively novel concept for English furniture design. Chippendale first introduces bronze mounts to two designs (pls. LXIII, LXXXIV) dated 1760 in the third edition of his Director (1762) where he recommends that the 'brass-Work...should be modelled in Wax, and then cast from these Models', an indication that this was a less than familiar technique for cabinet-makers.
ECTON HALL AND COLONEL SOTHEBY
Ambrose Isted inherited Ecton Hall from his father in 1745 and developed it in the fashionable ‘Strawberry Hill’ Gothic style. In 1755 he embarked on an extensive two-year renovation of the house which included a complete refurbishment of the interiors, embellishing them with fine furnishings, almost certainly including this commode, as well as a set of four girandole mirrors (recently sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lots 117 and 118), and portraits of himself, his wife Anne, and their children (J. Cole, The History and Antiquities of Ecton, in the county of Northampton, Scarborough, 1825, p. 29).
His son Samuel Isted continued his work, further renovating and growing the collection throughout the 19th century. In 1825, a sparing description of the interiors was included in The History and Antiquities of Ecton, describing at least three reception rooms that could have accommodated the present commode: the Drawing Room, ‘filled with pictures’ with a chimneypiece of marble with an ‘admirable piece of sculpture on its entablature’, the Little Drawing Room, ‘a much admired apartment’, or the Tapestry Room, full of family pictures (N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 1990, p. 207). A surviving photograph from the mid-20th century taken of the interior of this elegant house depicts elaborate 18th century rococo stucco-work covering the ceilings and walls, which would have corresponded beautifully with this richly decorated commode (see: Conway Collections, Courtauld Institute of Art). Samuel was the last of the Isted family to live in the house and after his death in 1881 it passed to Colonel Charles Sotheby.
Colonel Sotheby lived there briefly, managing to renovate the interiors before his unexpected death in 1887. It then passed to his half-brother, Major General Fredrick Edward Sotheby, and finally to Lt. Col. Herbert George Sotheby who ultimately had to sell the house due to the unsustainable cost of upkeep. The contents were reportedly passed to his nephew who sold them in 1955, although the commode was not included in that sale.
The characteristics commonly associated with his workshop seen on this commode include its slightly bombé form, the skillful diagonal and quartered veneers, as well as the paneled construction of the back, which is also black-painted, another leitmotif of Langlois's oeuvre (see P. Thornton and W. Rieder ‘Pierre Langlois, Part II’, Connoisseur, February 1972). The innovation of Langlois’s workshop and use of luxurious materials is reflected in another unique and extraordinary commode, mounted with precious Italian pietre dure panels, recently sold in the Collection of Mrs. Henry Ford II, Christie’s, New York, 30 March 2021, lot 37 ($337,500). This example is one of the most grandiose works in Pierre Langlois’ oeuvre and was made during the same time at the height of his career.
THE ROCOCO ORNAMENT
The spectacular ormolu mounts on the façade and sides of this unique commode with flower-filled urns, exotic birds and putti, employ the playful and universal language of the rococo which spread throughout Europe in the 1730s-1750s, propagated by designers such as François de Cuvilliès, Claude Audran and Pierre-Edme Babel. Similar levitating putti, free-flowing vinery, exotic birds and eccentric classical urns feature in ceiling boiseries in the Château de Sans-Souci, Potsdam and the Residenz, Wurzburg (see A. Gruber, L'Art Décoratif en Europe: Classique et Baroque, Paris, 1992, pp. 218 and 366). Another direct inspiration could be the oeuvre of the Parisian ébéniste Charles Cressent, who like Langlois particularly emphasized the exuberant sculpturality of his ormolu, which he famously contravened guild regulations by casting in his own workshop. Related commodes by Cressent include his ‘commode aux enfants balançant un singe’, circa 1749-1755 now in the Muséu du Louvre [OA 6868]. Another related commode by Cressent in the Rothschild Collection, Waddesdon Manor is mounted with trailing oak branches suspending reclining cherubs positioned on either side of a central urn (see G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor: Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg, 1974, vol. I, p. 200, cat. 44).
ATTRIBUTION OF THE MOUNTS
Langlois employed the bronzier Dominique Jean who almost certainly provided these elaborate and apparently unique ormolu mounts. Also listed at the 39 Tottenham Court Road address, Dominique married Langlois's daughter, as is noted by Matthew Boulton in a diary entry of 1769. In 1771, he employed Daniel Langlois, thought to be Pierre's son, as apprentice in his workshop.
While Dominique was employed by Pierre Langlois, he evidently worked independently, and was employed through William Gaubert at Carlton House (1783-86), supplying chandeliers and mounts, chasing and gilding. He also worked as a primary gilder for the Duke of Northumberland, another Langlois client, and is known to have provided furniture mounts in the 1780s for the Swedish cabinet-maker Christian Furloh [later Christopher Furlogh], who worked at 24 Tottenham Court Road circa 1769-1785 (Thornton and Rieder, op. cit., part I, November 1971, p.286). The use of ormolu mounts in the early 1760s was a relatively novel concept for English furniture design. Chippendale first introduces bronze mounts to two designs (pls. LXIII, LXXXIV) dated 1760 in the third edition of his Director (1762) where he recommends that the 'brass-Work...should be modelled in Wax, and then cast from these Models', an indication that this was a less than familiar technique for cabinet-makers.
ECTON HALL AND COLONEL SOTHEBY
Ambrose Isted inherited Ecton Hall from his father in 1745 and developed it in the fashionable ‘Strawberry Hill’ Gothic style. In 1755 he embarked on an extensive two-year renovation of the house which included a complete refurbishment of the interiors, embellishing them with fine furnishings, almost certainly including this commode, as well as a set of four girandole mirrors (recently sold Christie’s, London, 4 July 2019, lots 117 and 118), and portraits of himself, his wife Anne, and their children (J. Cole, The History and Antiquities of Ecton, in the county of Northampton, Scarborough, 1825, p. 29).
His son Samuel Isted continued his work, further renovating and growing the collection throughout the 19th century. In 1825, a sparing description of the interiors was included in The History and Antiquities of Ecton, describing at least three reception rooms that could have accommodated the present commode: the Drawing Room, ‘filled with pictures’ with a chimneypiece of marble with an ‘admirable piece of sculpture on its entablature’, the Little Drawing Room, ‘a much admired apartment’, or the Tapestry Room, full of family pictures (N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Northamptonshire, 1990, p. 207). A surviving photograph from the mid-20th century taken of the interior of this elegant house depicts elaborate 18th century rococo stucco-work covering the ceilings and walls, which would have corresponded beautifully with this richly decorated commode (see: Conway Collections, Courtauld Institute of Art). Samuel was the last of the Isted family to live in the house and after his death in 1881 it passed to Colonel Charles Sotheby.
Colonel Sotheby lived there briefly, managing to renovate the interiors before his unexpected death in 1887. It then passed to his half-brother, Major General Fredrick Edward Sotheby, and finally to Lt. Col. Herbert George Sotheby who ultimately had to sell the house due to the unsustainable cost of upkeep. The contents were reportedly passed to his nephew who sold them in 1955, although the commode was not included in that sale.