STAMPED 'D. C. MAO?...' ENCIRCLING AN 'L' AND STAMPED 'A...' POSSIBLY THE BRAND OF THE COMTE D'ARTOIS FOR HIS PARIS HOME, THE PALAIS DU TEMPLE, CIRCA 1750

The interlaced initials stamped on this commode possibly indicate that it formed part of the furnishings of the younger brother of Louis XVI, the comte d'Artois, later Charles X, in his apartments at the Palais du Temple. The palais du Temple was originally built on several acres in Paris in 1667 for the Grand Prieur of the order of Malta. When the prince de Conti became the Grand Prieur and moved to the palais in 1749, he commissioned a number of works. On his death in 1776, the duc d'Angoulême, a son of the comte d'Artois, took over the title and the palais and commissioned Boulée and Bélanger to undertake extensive work on the building. The comte d'Artois appointed Pierre-Thomas Jubault to oversee the installation of a proper garde-meuble with the branding of all furniture in the residence.