Physical description
Carcase of oak, with marquetry of tulipwood, kingwood, and other woods. The serpentine front is decorated with three panels, filled in with a trellis pattern having ormolu rosettes at the points of intersection. The panels are outlined by ormolu borders with incurved corners filled in with rosettes. The curved sides are ornamented with similar panels. At the front corners are terminal figures in ormolu of Cupid and Psyche, the former holding a dove and the latter a bunch of flowers. Each of the two drawers has two ormolu handles, and below the centre panel is a group in the same metal consisting of a reclining female figure between two children, one offering her a wreath and the other holding a dove. The top is of variegated red griotte marble, and the whole is supported on four curved legs with ormolu mounts.
Place of Origin
Paris, France (made)
Date
1774 (made)
Artist/maker
Joubert, Gilles, born 1689 - died 1775 (probably, maker)
Materials and Techniques
Marquetry of tulipwood, kingwood and other woods, on an oak carcase, with gilt-bronze mounts and a red griotte marble slab
Marks and inscriptions
[Commode] '2767' (crossed out)
[Commode] 'ÉBÉNIST MARQUETEUR'
[Commode] 'M. No.122'
Dimensions
Height: 83 cm, Width: 133 cm, Depth: 62.4 cm
Object history note
This commode has a fully documented royal provenance. Painted on the back are two inventory numbers allocated by the Garde-Meuble (the administrative body in charge of furnishing the royal residences) which represent two generations of numbering systems. The earlier number, 2767, can be traced in the Journal de la Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, a register recording the delivery of new furniture. It gives a detailed description of the commode and also states that the piece was delivered by the royal cabinet-maker, Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), on June 1774 for the use in the bedroom of Madame Adeläide, one of the daughters of Louis XV, at Marly, near Versailles (P. Verlet, p. 120, see References). The record of the delivery is misleading, however, as it suggests that the commode came from Riesener's workshop. It is now believed that the commode was made by his predecessor Gilles Joubert, Riesener having replaced him in June 1774, the very month in which this commode was delivered. Riesener may have been delivering a piece for which Joubert had organised the production (P. Verlet, pp. 120-121, see References)
Historical context note
The trellis-pattern marquetry of this commode, studded with gilt-bronze rosettes, and the finely-sculpted and chased infant triton corner mounts, appear on a numberof other pieces delivered to the royal household by Joubert. The precise extent of Joubert's involvement in this piece, as the other pieces delivered for the royal household, is difficult to determine. They were delivered when mainly between 1769 and 1774, when Joubert was over 80 years old.
Descriptive line
Commode, French (Paris), ca. 1774. Marquetry on a carcase of oak; gilt-bronze mounts and marble slab
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Verlet, P. French Royal Furniture. London: Barrie and Rockliff, 1963, p. 120
Eriksen, Svend. Early Neo-Classicism in France. London: Faber & Faber, 1974, 432 pp, ill. ISBN 0 571 08717 5, pp. 330-1 pl. 146.
Wilk, C (ed.). Western Furniture 1350 to the Present. London: Philip Wilson Publishers Limited, 1996, pp. 126-127, ill.
Exhibition History
Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the V&A (National Museum of Korea (Seoul) 02/05/2011-28/08/2011)
Labels and date
COMMODE
French (Paris); 1774
Bearing the French royal inventory number 2767.
Veneered with "bois des Indes à panneaux de bois de rose a mosaiques;
with bronze mounts of "bronze doré d'or moulu" and with a griotte marble slab.
This piece was provided by the then future royal cabinet-maker Jean-Henri Riesener on the 22nd June 1774 "pour servir dans la Chambre de Madame Adelaide", a daughter of Louis XV, at the Chateau de Marly. In the case containing a bed on the left of this display bay is a secretaire related to this commode, which bears the next royal serial-number and was commissioned, also in June 1774, from the royal cabinet-maker Gilles Joubert who was then about to retire. Riesener took over from Joubert and may therefore have assumed responsibility for delivering this commode. It is probable that both commissions were in fact farmed out to a third cabinet-maker; the name of Roger Vandercruse (called Lacroix) has been suggested.
Bequeathed by Mrs Lyne Stephens.
Museum No. 464-1895
Jones Collection [1984]
[Label text by Peter Thornton]
Commode
French (Paris); 1774
Bearing the French royal inventory number 2767
Veneered with ‘bois des Indes à panneaux de bois de roze à mosaiques’, with mounts of ‘bronze doré d’or moulu’ and with a griotte marble slab
This piece was provided by the then future royal cabinet-maker Jean-Henri Riseener on 22nd June 1774, 'pour servir dans la Chambre de Madame Adelaïde, a daughter of Louis XV, at the Château de Marly. In the case containing a bed on the left of this bay, is a secretaire related to this commode, which bears the next royal serial number and was commissioned, also in June 1774, from the royal cabinet-maker, Gilles Joubert who was then about to retire. Riesener took over from Joubert any may therefore have assumed responsibility for delivering this commode. It is probably that both commissions were in fact framed out to a third cabinet-maker, possibly Roger Vandercruse (called Lacroix). [1980]
Production Note
Attribution note: Although the production of fully-fledged neocClassical furniture had become well established in Paris by the 1760s, it is not unusual to find commodes in the transitional style, like this one, dating from the first half of the 1770s. It has a curviliniar, Rococo plan and cabriole legs, but the front and side elevations, composed of essentially rectangular frames enclosing the geometric marquetry, belong to the rectiliniarity of neo-classicism (S. Eriksen, Early Neo-Classicism in France , p. 78, see References.)
Materials
Bronze; Oak; Marble; Tulipwood; Kingwood
Techniques
Gilding; Cabinet making; Marquetry
Subjects depicted
Flowers; Women; Cupid; Rosettes; Children (people by age group); Dove; Psyche; Wreaths (costume accessories); Triton
Categories
Furniture
Collection code
FWK
