Commode, veneered in mahogany with an inlaid trellis pattern of ebony and boxwood, mounted with gilt-brass. Stamped by Jean-Henri Riesener, Paris, about 1775

Break-front commode, raised on cabriole legs. The case of oak and softwood, veneered in mahogany with a trellis pattern of ebony and boxwood.

The commode has two large drawers, with three small drawers in the frieze. It is mounted with gilt-brass, including three vertical rectangular frames which run across the fronts of the two large drawers, emphasising the break-front form of the case. At frieze level, these vertical frames are topped with three horizontal rectangle frames, each enclosing an interlacing garland of ivy. Each side of the case is similarly mounted with a vertical brass frame below a horizontal frame enclosing a brass garland. The large drawers are mounted with circular drawer pulls.

The commode is topped with a white marble slab.

Bequeathed by John Jones

This commode was given to the Museum in 1882, as part of a large bequest by the military tailor and businessman John Jones. At the time that Mr Jones' collection entered the Museum, Jean-Henri Riesener was one of the best-known 18th-century cabinetmakers. Many of the pieces in Mr Jones' bequest were wrongly attributed to Riesener.

The commode was a type of furniture that first originated in about 1700. It quickly became one of the most common and varied objects in an 18th-century interior. This form of commode, with three narrow frieze drawers mounted above two larger drawers, is of a type known as 'transitional'. The form developed in the period between Louis XV and Louis XVI.

1113:8-1882