CIRCA 1780 - 1795

This commode was conceived during the last phase of the development of Dutch neoclassical furniture, between circa 1780 and 1795. A new type of marquetry became fashionable, with a distinctive preference for light woods, such as satinwood and harewood, which harmonised with the simplified geometric motifs. This type of marquetry relates to that produced in England in the same period and was probably inspired by the engraved furniture designs by Hepplewhite and Sheraton, which were published respectively in 1788 and 1794, and were undoubtedly a valuable source of inspiration for Dutch furniture-makers.

It is interesting that during this English-inspired phase of marquetry furniture, Dutch cabinet-makers often enriched their pieces with panels of Japanese or Chinese lacquer or japanning. Reinier Baarsen has suggested that this decoration may have been a speciality of cabinet-makers working in The Hague and may have been developed by the celebrated cabinet-maker Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), who supplied Princess Wilhelmina of Prussia, the wife of Stadholder Prince William V, with ...Comodes wozu ihm Chinesish Lackwerk geliefert', as early as 1780, for which he received 557 florins. (R.J. Baarsen, ''In de commode van Parijs tot Den Haag', Matthijs Horrix (1735-1809), een meubelmaker in Den Haag in de tweede helft van de 18de eeuw', Oud Holland 107 (1993), p. 176)