Antique French Louis XV Commode Chest of Drawers, circa 1880

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Antique French Louis XV Commode Chest of Drawers, circa 1880

About the Item

This is a beautiful antique rosewood and fruitwood inlaid serpentine commode, circa 1880 in date and in the Louis XV manner. This gorgeous commode has three capacious drawers for ample storage and was inspired by the Louis XV style. Elaborately detailed, the commode features exquisite floral marquetry and has a beautiful "Marmo di Brescia" marble-top. The lavish marquetry decoration is further complimented by exquisite gilded ormolu mounts and the chest rests on elegant splayed legs. It is a lovely piece which is sure to attract a lot of attention. Condition: In excellent condition, please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 98 x width 122 x depth 50. Dimensions in inches: Height 3 feet, 3 inches x width 4 feet, 0 inches x depth 1 foot, 8 inches. Rosewood is a rich warm reddish brown wood that has a distinct grain with dark brown and black outlining. One variety of rosewood can vary significantly from another even though it is of the same species. These Rosewoods, native of India, South East Asia and Brazil, were dense and awkward to work with. It was renowned for quickly bluntening cutting tools and visibly darkening in color when over prepared. The Brazilian species of rosewood was by far the most beautifully figured and therefore it became the most sought after and rare. This was the wood of choice for the great box makers, David and Thomas Edwards who used it to veneer some of their finest pieces. Fruitwood is the wood of any of numerous fruit-bearing trees, such as the cherry, pear or apple used mainly in cabinetmaking. Most of the fruitwoods have fine, smooth texture and good shaping features and are considered to be the best cabinet woods. Marquetry is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, mother-of-pearl, pewter, brass silver or shell) of different colors are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers. The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as Pietra Dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique. Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The Craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing tortoiseshell and brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs. Ormolu (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'. The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object. No true ormolu was produced in France after around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury. Therefore, other techniques were used instead but nothing surpasses the original mercury-firing ormolu method for sheer beauty and richness of color. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt (also known as vermeil).

Dimensions:
Height: 38.59 in (98 cm)Width: 48.04 in (122 cm)Depth: 19.69 in (50 cm)
Place of Origin:
France
Period:
1880-1889
Date of Manufacture:
circa 1880
Condition:
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
Seller: 060111stDibs: LU95065686053