Early 1800s Commodes and Chests of Drawers

A striking, c. 1800 hand-carved, painted, and parcel gilt Venetian commode with three, sinuously paneled drawers. The whole in faux verde and Siena ma...

A period Dutch mahogany four-drawer bombe marquetry commode, the serpentine shaped top overhanging four graduated drawers, three with bombe front and sides, above a serpentine apron and splayed feet, profusely decorated throughout with variegated boxwood, the top and sides each with an oval panel enclosing a central vase of flowers, cornucopia and scrolls, the drawers with paired cornucopia...

Exceptional Empire walnut commode with neoclassical giltwood carved appliques.

Marburg finch chest Biedermeier around 1800/10, cherry wood and other precious woods richly veneered and marquetry on an oak body, hunting motif, 2 small drawers in the base area, or...

Solid walnut dresser of Spanish origin, entirely threaded with floral motifs, with initials and coat of arms of the house; the shelf bears the name of the owner and the date of manuf...

Classic French furniture from the early 1800s. A walnut commode has elegant hand-carved details. Acquired from a private collection, it was pu...

A superbly crafted French Empire commode with Rouge Griotte marble top by Molitor. A pair of these commodes were acquired by King Jerome between 1809 and 1812 and listed in the i...

A very fine George III three-drawer bachelor's chest. This piece sits on simple ogee bracket feet and the drawers are complete with brass pulls and e...

Elegant, three-drawer, serpentine, inlaid commode featuring a series of parquetry medallions. The whole atop ormolu capped feet.

This mahogany commode has the fluted rails and canted corners typical of case furniture made along the coasts of the Baltic and North Seas around 1800. More difficult to pinpoint, however, is the exact place of its making, since this geographical region stretches from Germany to Russia, and north from Poland to Scandinavia. That said, a strikingly similar, if slightly plainer commode in a private German collection bears an old paper label that identifies it as having been made in the city of Altona. It also bears the seal of King Christian VII of Denmark who reigned until 1808. At the time, Altona was in the independent Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, located between Denmark and Prussia. Both nations tried to annex the Duchy, and in 1848 it was ceded to Prussia, which became part of Germany in 1871. A North Sea port, Altona was a member of the Hanseatic League, an association of seaports that was established in the 14th century to foster trade and police the high seas. Around 1800, the aforementioned King Christian of Denmark, who was also the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, allowed Jews to freely settle in Altona to increase the tax base. This allowed them to conduct business in neighboring Hamburg, a larger financial hub that maintained quotas. The prosperous Jewish families of Altona built villas there, and decorated them with furnishings that were made locally and imported. Many of those makers owned copies of furniture-pattern books, which were widely disseminated among these seaports, accounting for the difficulty in determining if a piece was made in Altona, Stockholm, or St. Petersburg. We can’t trace our commode to a Danish king or a known Altona merchant, but we can link it to the New World empire builders...