Louis XVI Style Neoclassical Commode in the Manner of Riesener, circa 1890

A fine Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted mahogany commode, with a blue turquin marble top after the model by Jean-Henri Riesener. French, circa 1880. The gilt bronze mounts s...

An important Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted commode, after the model by Jean-Francois Leleu by François Linke. French, circa 1910. Linke index number: 1127. Linke title: 'Commode Louis XVI, Bois d'amarante et de rose.' Signed ‘Linke’ to the right-hand side chute. This distinguished commode is quarter veneered in mahogany with bois de violette banding and boxwood stringing. It is furnished with finely cast gilt-bronze mounts and surmounted by a brèche violette marble top. It appears that Linke bought the rights to make this commode from the Vente Cueunières in 1902, although there is no trace of it being made by him until the summer of 1908 and there is no entry in the Blue Daybooks for this model. The green registres have two pages devoted to the making of the commodes, the first at a cost of 1,540 and 40 centimes, with eight more made in the intervening years, the last, a pair, in 1927 with the cost price escalating to 8,529 francs. The registre is not entirely clear, but it appears that Clément Linke, father and son, made the locks for this model. The cabinetmaking was exclusively by Guntren who took 496 hours per commode, paid 85 centimes in 1908 rising to 5 francs 75 cents for the last pair. Linke priced this commode at 3,000 French francs, noting in his book 'original est de Leleu est à Trianon.' The original commode by Leleu, on loan from the Petit Trianon, is shown in a line engraving in the retrospective part of the Exposition de l' Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1882, De Champeau & Others, 'Les arts du bois,' pub. Quantin, 1883, p. 80. The commode entered the Petit Trianon in 1867 on the occasion of an earlier exhibition dedicated to the memory of Marie-Antoinette, organised under the patronage of the Empress Eugénie. Jean-François Leleu A pupil and later collaborator with Jean-François Oeben, Jean-François Leleu became maître on the latter’s death in 1763. His work can be divided into two concurrent but distinct styles: the first owing more to the legacy of Oeben, being of large, solid forms, more noble in style; the second, although retaining the clean, definite lines of the first, being an exercise in elegance and understatement. It is this second style for which Leleu is chiefly remembered and which the present commode, with its lightly bombé form and restrained frieze mounts, is a principal example. Literature: Payne, Christopher. François Linke, 1855-1946, The Belle Epoque of French Furniture, (woodbridge, UK), 2003; p. 502, for the black and white cliché of index number 1127 Meyer, Jonathan. Great Exhibitions, Antique Collectors club, (Woodbridge, UK), 2006; p. 298 - 300. Pradère, Alexandre. French Furniture Makers; p. 340, fig. 398; and P. Arizzoli-Clementel. Versailles Furniture...

A Fine Louis XVI Style gilt bronze Mounted Commode after a Model by Jean-François Leleu. French, circa 1870. This important commode has a moulded rectangular Brocatelle Violette du Jura marble top above a frieze drawer with a pierced foliate cast panel, above two panelled long drawers quarter-veneered sans travers. The fluted angles of the commode are headed by scrolled acanthus cast clasps and it is raised on turned tapering legs with toupie feet. The commode is based on the celebrated 18th century model, by Jean-François Leleu (1729-1807), now conserved at the Petit Trianon at Versailles. It was placed there in 1867 following an exhibition organised at the request of Empress Eugénie in memory of Queen Marie-Antoinette. The commode was further exhibited in Paris in the retrospective part of the Exposition de l' Union centrale des arts décoratifs in 1882. Literature: Exposition de l' Union centrale des arts décoratifs, (Paris), 1882. De Champeau & Others. Les arts du bois, pub. Quantin, 1883; p. 80. P. Arizzoli-Clementel. Versailles Furniture...

A Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Commode, After The Model By Joseph Stöckel and Guillaume Benneman. Decorated overall with berried s...

A very fine French, 19th century Louis XVI style ormolu-mounted mahogany and tulip wood commode with a brèche violette marble top, after the model by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806)....

A very fine Louis XVI style gilt-bronze mounted marquetry commode After the design by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) After a model by Jean-Henri Riesener, supplied to Princess Adélaïde for Versailles. Constructed from amaranth with veneered tulipwood "en semelle" and dressed with a profusion of finely cast & hand-chased ormolu mounts, with a Sarrancolin marble platform, atop a breakfront frieze, set with three drawers, over a unified central panel divided in two drawers depicting a 'bois de bout' marquetry floral still life within a gilt-bronze frame, flanked by panels of quarter-cut tulipwood with ormolu handles suspended from lover's knot bows, with conforming matched panels to the concave sides. The apron is mounted with a finely cast central scroll, and the canted corners dressed with cascading ormolu foliate mounts terminating in lion's paw feet. French, circa 1910 Madame Adélaïde's commode The design for this commode was one of the earliest royal commissions awarded to Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), the master craftsman who was later appointed cabinetmaker to Louis XVI and his court in 1774. The commode, with its architectural features, extensive ormolu mounts and immaculate marquetry work, was ordered in 1776 and delivered that same year for Madame Adélaïde (1732-1800), the daughter of king Louis XV and Marie Leszczynska. The commode was later moved to château de Bellevue when it was given to her by king Louis XVI. The famous commode was later part of the Earl of Carnarvon's collection, who also bought furniture made for Napoleon. Carnarvon's wife, Lady Elmina Wombwell, was the child of Alfred de Rotschild, which may explain the post-revolutionary history of the royal commode. In 2018, the Riesener commode was bought for the nation for the sum of 3.5m€ and returned to Versailles.

Very fine Louis XVI style ormolu-mounted marquetry commode French, Early 20th Century Height 95cm, width 162cm, depth 59cm After an important model by Jean-Henri Riesener (French, 1734-1806), a highly renowned ebeniste of great standing, this exceptional commode is of outstanding quality, and fully embodies the quality of craftsmanship and great artistic style of the Louis XVI period and the original piece, which is currently housed in the Chateau de Fontainebleau, France. Riesener was a leading exponent and supplier of pieces in the Neoclassical Louis XVI style, and this design conveys the regal feel and presence of his manner, most notably in terms of the beautiful marquetry decorative panel to the front. It consists of a white marble top, above front facing drawers, with a lower door opening; curved sides that are extensively decorated with intricate geometric designs, and a central panel that depicts, in inlay...

Commode in Louis XV / Transition style on the original model made by Jean H. RIESNER. Inlaid wood and bronze Period Early twentieth century Model Sideboard based...