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Lot Essay
This magnificent commode may have been one of the very first pieces of furniture to be stamped by the celebrated Jean-François Leleu. It was probably produced shortly after he had become maître-ébéniste on 19 September 1764. It indicates both the young master's high ambition and the very individual manner in which he interpreted the legacy of his former master, Jean-François Oeben, who had died in 1763.
LELEU AND OEBEN
Upon Oeben's death, Leleu hoped to continue the workshop which at that time was engaged on the great bureau du Roi for Louis XV, begun in 1760 (Pierre Verlet, Le mobilier royal français, Vol. II, Paris, 1955, pp. 66-75, no. 10). However, he was supplanted by his younger colleague Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) who married Oeben's widow and was put in charge of the workshop. Work on the bureau du Roi continued until it was finished in 1769, and this immensely prestigious commission ensured the future position of the Riesener workshop as favoured cabinet-makers to the King and the Royal family. Disappointed and frustrated, Leleu set up on his own, registering his maker's stamp in 1764.
In the Wallace Collection there is a combined dressing and writing-table that may date to the very months between Oeben's death and the establishment of Leleu's own workshop (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol. II, No. 210). It is unstamped but bears Leleu's incised name: he probably finished it before obtaining his own stamp but must have wanted to establish his authorship of this superb piece nonetheless. This table has many features in common with the present commode. The influence of Oeben is paramount, but in both cases Leleu has created a novel and original piece, taking his master's inspiration a step further and establishing himself as a creative artist.
The shape of both pieces is basically bombé, but the curves are straightened and the surfaces flattened, in response to the loss of favour amongst fashionable clients of the full-blown rococo manner. The outline of both items is reminiscent of the bureau du Roi. Already in the 1750s, completely rectilinear examples of ébénisterie had been made, executed in the aggressive early neo-classical style known as the goût grec that was advocated by a small group of dedicated connoisseurs. This style was far too extreme for Louis XV who did however turn to the rectifié rococo manner, influenced perhaps by his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, who was Oeben's foremost patron.
Both the marquetry decoration of the sides - in addition, the Wallace Collection table has a floral marquetry top - and the mounts beautifully match and enhance this precise stylistic expression. The tripartite front displays cube marquetry in the centre and intersecting circles in the flanking reserves; on the sides are single panels of intersecting circles. The panels are framed by elaborately interlacing, looped bands that in mnay places form Greek key and other rectangular frets. Again, all these elements occur in very similar fashion in Oeben's work, but Leleu employs them in a bolder manner. His marquetry panels are large in scale and the frets and loops of his ribbons are less disciplined, more striking than those of Oeben. This marquetry strikes exactly the same balance between modified rococo and early neo-classicism as the overall shape of the commode and the table.
THE MOUNTS
The same is true of the mounts. Whereas the corner mounts of the commode emphasize the restrained and severe curvature of the piece, the flowing apron mount is still rococo in feeling, albeit the generous, late rococo associated with the work of Contant d'Ivry of the mid-1750s, at the Palais Royal in Paris and the Palais Bernstorff in Copenhagen (Svend Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 42-43, figs. 22-27). By contrast, the vase that is supported on this mount is purely neo-classical. Ingeniously, the marquetry ribbons above it seem to emerge from it, evoking smoke ascending from a brûle-parfum. The extremely elaborate, ponderous handles and keyhole escutcheon stress the masculine, martial character of the commode. They feature laurel garlands and palm fronds symbolic of victory and fame, and oak branches signifying strength and valour. The musical trophies suspended from ribbons on the handles, featuring bagpipes, tambourins and flutes, may specifically refer to military music.
The laurel garlands recur in similar form on the Wallace table, and the handles on the side of that piece are similar in feeling to the apron mount on the commode. The shield-shaped mounts at the centre of the lower edge of the sides of the commode are actually repeated on the front and back of the Wallace table. The mounts on that table have been compared with those on the bureau du Roi which were modelled by the famous Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis, père or more likely fils. Duplessis may equally have been partly responsible for the mounts on this commode.
THE COMMODE IN THE OEUVRE OF LELEU
This unique commode and the table at the Wallace Collection may constitute the earliest masterpieces that Leleu produced indepently. Anxious to establish a reputation to rival that of the Oeben workshop directed by Riesener, the ébéniste has taken extraordinary care to ensure that all elements speak the same ornamental language, thus creating highly idiosyncratic works of a rare unity of design. The coordination of all the parts, and the production of specially designed bronzes was of course extremely expensive; the personal nature of the mounts of the commode suggests that even at this early stage, Leleu was employed by at least one rich and fastidious patron. In later years, he was to work for some of the most demanding clients in all of Paris, notably Ange-Laurent de Lalive de Jully and the Prince de Condé.
Having created a suitable stir with these beautiful works, Leleu went on to 'market' some of their features on a slightly more accessible scale. He produced a series of smaller mechanical tables characterised by similar, if less elaborate marquetry, bearing mounts of much reduced importance but comparable character. Examples of these are in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (museum leaflet Eighteenth-century Decorative Arts, No. C-275, stamped), the Jones Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Oliver Brackett, Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part I, Furniture London, 1922, No. 13, unstamped), and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (Gillian Wilson and Catherine Hess, Summary catalogue of European Decorative Arts, Los Angeles, 2001, No. 68, unstamped). Soon, all traces of the rococo style were to disappear from Leleu's work. The present commode is the most important testimony of the early development of this great ébéniste known to date.
LELEU AND OEBEN
Upon Oeben's death, Leleu hoped to continue the workshop which at that time was engaged on the great bureau du Roi for Louis XV, begun in 1760 (Pierre Verlet, Le mobilier royal français, Vol. II, Paris, 1955, pp. 66-75, no. 10). However, he was supplanted by his younger colleague Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) who married Oeben's widow and was put in charge of the workshop. Work on the bureau du Roi continued until it was finished in 1769, and this immensely prestigious commission ensured the future position of the Riesener workshop as favoured cabinet-makers to the King and the Royal family. Disappointed and frustrated, Leleu set up on his own, registering his maker's stamp in 1764.
In the Wallace Collection there is a combined dressing and writing-table that may date to the very months between Oeben's death and the establishment of Leleu's own workshop (P. Hughes, The Wallace Collection Catalogue of Furniture, London, 1996, Vol. II, No. 210). It is unstamped but bears Leleu's incised name: he probably finished it before obtaining his own stamp but must have wanted to establish his authorship of this superb piece nonetheless. This table has many features in common with the present commode. The influence of Oeben is paramount, but in both cases Leleu has created a novel and original piece, taking his master's inspiration a step further and establishing himself as a creative artist.
The shape of both pieces is basically bombé, but the curves are straightened and the surfaces flattened, in response to the loss of favour amongst fashionable clients of the full-blown rococo manner. The outline of both items is reminiscent of the bureau du Roi. Already in the 1750s, completely rectilinear examples of ébénisterie had been made, executed in the aggressive early neo-classical style known as the goût grec that was advocated by a small group of dedicated connoisseurs. This style was far too extreme for Louis XV who did however turn to the rectifié rococo manner, influenced perhaps by his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, who was Oeben's foremost patron.
Both the marquetry decoration of the sides - in addition, the Wallace Collection table has a floral marquetry top - and the mounts beautifully match and enhance this precise stylistic expression. The tripartite front displays cube marquetry in the centre and intersecting circles in the flanking reserves; on the sides are single panels of intersecting circles. The panels are framed by elaborately interlacing, looped bands that in mnay places form Greek key and other rectangular frets. Again, all these elements occur in very similar fashion in Oeben's work, but Leleu employs them in a bolder manner. His marquetry panels are large in scale and the frets and loops of his ribbons are less disciplined, more striking than those of Oeben. This marquetry strikes exactly the same balance between modified rococo and early neo-classicism as the overall shape of the commode and the table.
THE MOUNTS
The same is true of the mounts. Whereas the corner mounts of the commode emphasize the restrained and severe curvature of the piece, the flowing apron mount is still rococo in feeling, albeit the generous, late rococo associated with the work of Contant d'Ivry of the mid-1750s, at the Palais Royal in Paris and the Palais Bernstorff in Copenhagen (Svend Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, pp. 42-43, figs. 22-27). By contrast, the vase that is supported on this mount is purely neo-classical. Ingeniously, the marquetry ribbons above it seem to emerge from it, evoking smoke ascending from a brûle-parfum. The extremely elaborate, ponderous handles and keyhole escutcheon stress the masculine, martial character of the commode. They feature laurel garlands and palm fronds symbolic of victory and fame, and oak branches signifying strength and valour. The musical trophies suspended from ribbons on the handles, featuring bagpipes, tambourins and flutes, may specifically refer to military music.
The laurel garlands recur in similar form on the Wallace table, and the handles on the side of that piece are similar in feeling to the apron mount on the commode. The shield-shaped mounts at the centre of the lower edge of the sides of the commode are actually repeated on the front and back of the Wallace table. The mounts on that table have been compared with those on the bureau du Roi which were modelled by the famous Jean-Claude Chambellan Duplessis, père or more likely fils. Duplessis may equally have been partly responsible for the mounts on this commode.
THE COMMODE IN THE OEUVRE OF LELEU
This unique commode and the table at the Wallace Collection may constitute the earliest masterpieces that Leleu produced indepently. Anxious to establish a reputation to rival that of the Oeben workshop directed by Riesener, the ébéniste has taken extraordinary care to ensure that all elements speak the same ornamental language, thus creating highly idiosyncratic works of a rare unity of design. The coordination of all the parts, and the production of specially designed bronzes was of course extremely expensive; the personal nature of the mounts of the commode suggests that even at this early stage, Leleu was employed by at least one rich and fastidious patron. In later years, he was to work for some of the most demanding clients in all of Paris, notably Ange-Laurent de Lalive de Jully and the Prince de Condé.
Having created a suitable stir with these beautiful works, Leleu went on to 'market' some of their features on a slightly more accessible scale. He produced a series of smaller mechanical tables characterised by similar, if less elaborate marquetry, bearing mounts of much reduced importance but comparable character. Examples of these are in the Widener Collection at the National Gallery of Art in Washington (museum leaflet Eighteenth-century Decorative Arts, No. C-275, stamped), the Jones Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Oliver Brackett, Catalogue of the Jones Collection, Part I, Furniture London, 1922, No. 13, unstamped), and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu (Gillian Wilson and Catherine Hess, Summary catalogue of European Decorative Arts, Los Angeles, 2001, No. 68, unstamped). Soon, all traces of the rococo style were to disappear from Leleu's work. The present commode is the most important testimony of the early development of this great ébéniste known to date.