.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Executed by Nicolas Petit (matre in 1761), this superb commode epitomises the fascination for the Orient and the then prevalent goût for all things exotic. Decorated with lustrous panels of Chinese and Japanese black and gilt lacquer set within elaborate foliate-entwined framing mounts, this commode was conceived in the 18th Century tradition of the fashionable Parisian dealers or marchands-merciers who had perfected the art of marrying the exoticism of oriental lacquer with European ébénisterie of the finest quality.
As Thibaut Wolvesperges notes, Nicolas Petit collaborated extensively with marchand-merciers such as Héricourt, Ledoux and Hennebert and this is evidenced by the limited number of pieces recorded in his stock, in the inventory drawn up after the death of his spouse in 1765. The second inventory taken after the ébéniste's disappearance in 1791 lists no lacquer furniture nor lacquer panel which further supports the hypothesis that a predominant number of pieces executed by Petit were destined for retail by a marchand.
It was most probably the marchand-ébéniste Pierre IV Migeon (1696-1758), whose prestigious clientèle included the duc d'Orléans, the marquise de Pompadour, the cardinal de Rohan and the duc de Noailles, who commissioned the present commode from Petit. In addition to Petit, Migeon collaborated with fellow ébénistes such as Jean-François Oeben, BVRB III, and is recorded to have himself produced many lacquer and Vernis Martin examples. These include a lacquer commode c.1745-50, very closely related to that offered here and featuring the same exact framing mounts to the front or encadrements as well as the same pierced apron. It was formerly in the Goldschmidt Collection, later sold Christie's, London, 24 May 1922, lot 85, and again 12 December 1929, lot 82 (ill. S. Mouquin, Pierre IV Migeon 1696-1758, Paris, 2001, p.88). As the Migeon example, the present commode was most probably executed circa 1745-50, that is prior to Petit receiving his maîtrise in 1761, and it is therefore almost certain that he would have acted as sous-traitant for a marchand in this instance also.
A small group of closely related lacquer commodes by the ébénistes François Rübestück, Pierre Antoine Foullet and Jacques-Philippe Carel feature the same elaborate encadrements and apron mounts as on the Petit commode offered here (see P. Kjellberg, le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Dijon, 1998, p. 323 for the commode by Foullet with the same framing mounts, apron, chutes, leg mounts and sabots, and p. 745 fig. A for the Rübestück example). The related commode by Carel, formerly at the château de Valencay until sold as part of the collection of the duc de Talleyrand in 1899, is now in the Louvre. As Anne Droguet discusses, it is most probable that all these commodes would have been supplied by the same marchand in the person of Migeon (A. Droguet, Nicolas Petit 1732-1791, Paris, 2001, pp.16-17). Sophie Mouquin also remarks that such a collaboration would explain the use of the same ornementation de bronze on all these examples, given that the model for the mounts used recurrently would have most certainly been retained or dictated by the marchand, as was indeed often the case (S. Mouquin, op.cit, p.88).
As Thibaut Wolvesperges notes, Nicolas Petit collaborated extensively with marchand-merciers such as Héricourt, Ledoux and Hennebert and this is evidenced by the limited number of pieces recorded in his stock, in the inventory drawn up after the death of his spouse in 1765. The second inventory taken after the ébéniste's disappearance in 1791 lists no lacquer furniture nor lacquer panel which further supports the hypothesis that a predominant number of pieces executed by Petit were destined for retail by a marchand.
It was most probably the marchand-ébéniste Pierre IV Migeon (1696-1758), whose prestigious clientèle included the duc d'Orléans, the marquise de Pompadour, the cardinal de Rohan and the duc de Noailles, who commissioned the present commode from Petit. In addition to Petit, Migeon collaborated with fellow ébénistes such as Jean-François Oeben, BVRB III, and is recorded to have himself produced many lacquer and Vernis Martin examples. These include a lacquer commode c.1745-50, very closely related to that offered here and featuring the same exact framing mounts to the front or encadrements as well as the same pierced apron. It was formerly in the Goldschmidt Collection, later sold Christie's, London, 24 May 1922, lot 85, and again 12 December 1929, lot 82 (ill. S. Mouquin, Pierre IV Migeon 1696-1758, Paris, 2001, p.88). As the Migeon example, the present commode was most probably executed circa 1745-50, that is prior to Petit receiving his maîtrise in 1761, and it is therefore almost certain that he would have acted as sous-traitant for a marchand in this instance also.
A small group of closely related lacquer commodes by the ébénistes François Rübestück, Pierre Antoine Foullet and Jacques-Philippe Carel feature the same elaborate encadrements and apron mounts as on the Petit commode offered here (see P. Kjellberg, le Mobilier Français du XVIIIème siècle, Dijon, 1998, p. 323 for the commode by Foullet with the same framing mounts, apron, chutes, leg mounts and sabots, and p. 745 fig. A for the Rübestück example). The related commode by Carel, formerly at the château de Valencay until sold as part of the collection of the duc de Talleyrand in 1899, is now in the Louvre. As Anne Droguet discusses, it is most probable that all these commodes would have been supplied by the same marchand in the person of Migeon (A. Droguet, Nicolas Petit 1732-1791, Paris, 2001, pp.16-17). Sophie Mouquin also remarks that such a collaboration would explain the use of the same ornementation de bronze on all these examples, given that the model for the mounts used recurrently would have most certainly been retained or dictated by the marchand, as was indeed often the case (S. Mouquin, op.cit, p.88).