.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Pierre-Antoine Foullet maître, in 1765.
This near pair of sophisticated commodes belong to a small recorded group of commodes either stamped by, or attributed to, Pierre-Antoine Foullet (1732-80). He is best known for his distinctive and richly mounted transitional commodes, secrétaires à abattant and encoignures, which now appear in famed collections of French furniture, including those of the Château de Versailles and the Wallace Collection.
The form is derived from the ground-breaking series of commodes à la grècque made from 1760 onwards by ébéniste du roi Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763) for Madame de Pompadour (X. Salmon, Mme de Pompadour et les Arts, Paris, 2002, pp. 351-52). Although this commission was veneered in mahogany or bois satiné, Oeben began to execute variations of this form shortly afterwards which were embellished with various parquetry patterns combined with his beautiful marquetry 'pictures' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p. 252). With its rectangular unadorned form resting on high, slightly curved legs, this new ‘antique’ model illustrates a clean break from the curved, naturalistic profiles of the Rococo. Foullett was not the only ébéniste to adopt this style which most notably included Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix (RVLC) and Jacques Dautriche.
THE DESIGN
Foullet’s distinct treatment of the commode à la grècque is identified by his use of oval medallions filled with sycamore and fruitwood marquetry designs which are given prominence by substantial ribbon-tied ormolu mounts with laurel leaf frames. The effect creates the illusion of the piece being hung with paintings within giltwood frames. A further defining feature is his use of a smoking cassolette mount to the apron and the guilloche and rosette mounts to the frieze. Although they may at first appear identical, a closer examination reveals subtle variations within these elements, as aptly illustrated by the present pair of commodes. They include the presence of handles, different escutcheons as well as chandelles to the lower sections of the fluting.
Foullet was well-known for the high-quality and generous neo-classical mounts with which he adorned his furniture. Many of them were cast and chased by bronzier Claude-Bernard Héban (d.1774) from mounts his father, Antoine, produced after designs by Charles de Lafosse (1696-1716) or Jacques de Lajoüe (1687-1761). These would have come at a great expense and his decision to use them with such impact and integrity illustrates his appreciation of the importance of gilded bronze to contemporary amateurs and collectors (S.M. Bennett and C. Sargentson (eds.), French Art of the Eighteenth Century at the Huntington, New Haven, 2008, pp. 99-100).
RELATED EXAMPLES
The present commodes are part of a known group which recently includes four others which have an identical central medallion depicting a kneeling gentleman flanked by floral marquetry panels and two further medallions of vases of flowers. They comprise:
--One sold from the Collection of Mrs. Enid A. Haupt; Sotheby’s, New York, 4 May 1984, lot 65 and subsequently sold anonymously 20 November 1993, lot 257.
--One with an identical purple figured marble top formerly in the William A. Clark Collection and now in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (2014.136.360)
--One sold from Un Moment de Perfection; Christie’s, London, 3 December 2014, lot 15, which lacks the border mounts.
--One sold from the Collection of Raine, Countess Spencer; Christie’s, London, 13 July 2017, lot 30.
--One sold from the collection of Henry Ford II, Christie's, New York, 12 November 1981, lot 214.
-- Another at the Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino (R. Wark, French Decorative Arts in the Huntington Collection, California, 1979, p. 112)
-- Another at Fredricksborg Castle, Denmark (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classisicm in France, London 1974, pl. 132);
PIERRE-ANTOINE FOULLET (1732-1780)
Pierre-Antoine Foullet followed his father Antoine into the family business as an ébéniste on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and gained his maîtrise in 1765. However, unlike his father who specialized in Boulle marquetry clock cases, Pierre-Antoine focused on case furniture of a much grander scale and ambition. He is recorded as working for the ébéniste du roi Gilles Joubert (1689-1775) on a pair of encoignures (now in the Wallace Collection) supplied in September 1773 to the Comte d’Artois at Versailles together with a commode (whereabouts unknown). Foullet's relationship with Joubert inevitably led to him supplying another commode in 1768 for the Royal family, this time for the reconfigured private apartment of Madame Victoire, daughter of Louis XV, and the commode remains on display at the Palace of Versailles (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, London, 1989, pp. 275-79).
This near pair of sophisticated commodes belong to a small recorded group of commodes either stamped by, or attributed to, Pierre-Antoine Foullet (1732-80). He is best known for his distinctive and richly mounted transitional commodes, secrétaires à abattant and encoignures, which now appear in famed collections of French furniture, including those of the Château de Versailles and the Wallace Collection.
The form is derived from the ground-breaking series of commodes à la grècque made from 1760 onwards by ébéniste du roi Jean-François Oeben (1721-1763) for Madame de Pompadour (X. Salmon, Mme de Pompadour et les Arts, Paris, 2002, pp. 351-52). Although this commission was veneered in mahogany or bois satiné, Oeben began to execute variations of this form shortly afterwards which were embellished with various parquetry patterns combined with his beautiful marquetry 'pictures' (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers, Paris, 1989, p. 252). With its rectangular unadorned form resting on high, slightly curved legs, this new ‘antique’ model illustrates a clean break from the curved, naturalistic profiles of the Rococo. Foullett was not the only ébéniste to adopt this style which most notably included Roger van der Cruse, dit Lacroix (RVLC) and Jacques Dautriche.
THE DESIGN
Foullet’s distinct treatment of the commode à la grècque is identified by his use of oval medallions filled with sycamore and fruitwood marquetry designs which are given prominence by substantial ribbon-tied ormolu mounts with laurel leaf frames. The effect creates the illusion of the piece being hung with paintings within giltwood frames. A further defining feature is his use of a smoking cassolette mount to the apron and the guilloche and rosette mounts to the frieze. Although they may at first appear identical, a closer examination reveals subtle variations within these elements, as aptly illustrated by the present pair of commodes. They include the presence of handles, different escutcheons as well as chandelles to the lower sections of the fluting.
Foullet was well-known for the high-quality and generous neo-classical mounts with which he adorned his furniture. Many of them were cast and chased by bronzier Claude-Bernard Héban (d.1774) from mounts his father, Antoine, produced after designs by Charles de Lafosse (1696-1716) or Jacques de Lajoüe (1687-1761). These would have come at a great expense and his decision to use them with such impact and integrity illustrates his appreciation of the importance of gilded bronze to contemporary amateurs and collectors (S.M. Bennett and C. Sargentson (eds.), French Art of the Eighteenth Century at the Huntington, New Haven, 2008, pp. 99-100).
RELATED EXAMPLES
The present commodes are part of a known group which recently includes four others which have an identical central medallion depicting a kneeling gentleman flanked by floral marquetry panels and two further medallions of vases of flowers. They comprise:
--One sold from the Collection of Mrs. Enid A. Haupt; Sotheby’s, New York, 4 May 1984, lot 65 and subsequently sold anonymously 20 November 1993, lot 257.
--One with an identical purple figured marble top formerly in the William A. Clark Collection and now in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (2014.136.360)
--One sold from Un Moment de Perfection; Christie’s, London, 3 December 2014, lot 15, which lacks the border mounts.
--One sold from the Collection of Raine, Countess Spencer; Christie’s, London, 13 July 2017, lot 30.
--One sold from the collection of Henry Ford II, Christie's, New York, 12 November 1981, lot 214.
-- Another at the Huntington Art Gallery, San Marino (R. Wark, French Decorative Arts in the Huntington Collection, California, 1979, p. 112)
-- Another at Fredricksborg Castle, Denmark (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classisicm in France, London 1974, pl. 132);
PIERRE-ANTOINE FOULLET (1732-1780)
Pierre-Antoine Foullet followed his father Antoine into the family business as an ébéniste on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and gained his maîtrise in 1765. However, unlike his father who specialized in Boulle marquetry clock cases, Pierre-Antoine focused on case furniture of a much grander scale and ambition. He is recorded as working for the ébéniste du roi Gilles Joubert (1689-1775) on a pair of encoignures (now in the Wallace Collection) supplied in September 1773 to the Comte d’Artois at Versailles together with a commode (whereabouts unknown). Foullet's relationship with Joubert inevitably led to him supplying another commode in 1768 for the Royal family, this time for the reconfigured private apartment of Madame Victoire, daughter of Louis XV, and the commode remains on display at the Palace of Versailles (A. Pradère, French Furniture Makers: The Art of the Ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, London, 1989, pp. 275-79).