Lot Essay
Etienne Doirat, ébéniste à la Croix rouge in the Grand-Rue du Faubourg Sainte-Antoine, circa 1675-1732.
Doirat is distinguished by the fact that he is the only ébéniste of the Régence period who stamped his oeuvre. Moreover, as a result of the inventory taken following his death in 1732, which effectively discloses that Doirat kept exclusive control of his bronze mounts, not only retaining the lead models but also the unchased mounts and finished examples, it is possible to attribute certain pieces with confidence on the basis of the mounts. This inventory further reveals that Doirat was making two-drawer commodes of this type, described as 'commodes à la Regence' by 1732. While the same mounts can be seen on the commode by Doirat in the collection of the Prince of Hesse at Schloss Fasanerie, Fulda (its pair being illustrated in A.Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Tours, 1989, p.123, fig.79), in form, the closest parallel can be drawn with the Doirat commode in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris (donation Bouvée).
Doirat is distinguished by the fact that he is the only ébéniste of the Régence period who stamped his oeuvre. Moreover, as a result of the inventory taken following his death in 1732, which effectively discloses that Doirat kept exclusive control of his bronze mounts, not only retaining the lead models but also the unchased mounts and finished examples, it is possible to attribute certain pieces with confidence on the basis of the mounts. This inventory further reveals that Doirat was making two-drawer commodes of this type, described as 'commodes à la Regence' by 1732. While the same mounts can be seen on the commode by Doirat in the collection of the Prince of Hesse at Schloss Fasanerie, Fulda (its pair being illustrated in A.Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Tours, 1989, p.123, fig.79), in form, the closest parallel can be drawn with the Doirat commode in the Musée Carnavalet, Paris (donation Bouvée).