A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH BOIS SATINE AND PARQUETRY COMMODE 'A LA GRECQUE'
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH BOIS SATINE AND PARQUETRY COMMODE 'A LA GRECQUE'

BY SIMON OEBEN, CIRCA 1765

细节
A LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED AMARANTH BOIS SATINE AND PARQUETRY COMMODE 'A LA GRECQUE'
BY SIMON OEBEN, CIRCA 1765
The beyrede sarrancolin marble top with molded edge above a guilloche frieze fitted with three drawers above two central drawers inlaid with zigzag parquetry simulating silk, flanked to each side by a similarly inlaid cupboad door, on cabriole legs with scrolled sabots, twice stamped S*OEBEN, the drawers to the side with internal locking mechanism
35¾ in. (89.5 cm.) high, 62½ in. (158.5 cm.) wide, 25½ in. (64.5 cm.) deep
来源
Museum purchase, Mildred Anna Williams Collection, 1940.

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拍品专文

Simon Oeben, maître in 1769

This superb commode 'à la grecque', revealing a nascent neo-classicism with its distinctive breakfront form and elegant veneers in bois satiné imitating shimmering silk, was a form developed around 1760 and almost exclusively supplied by Jean-François and his brother Simon Oeben to two clients: the duc de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour.

In the inventory drawn up following Madame de Pompadour's death in 1764, no less than 17 commodes à la grecque are recorded, both in mahogany and bois satiné, all supplied by Oeben between 1761-3 for the châteaux de Versailles, Auvilliers and Ménars. A common feature of this model of commode is the central locking mechanism of the frieze drawers with concealed drawers to the side.

Both Jean-François and Simon also supplied extensive amounts of furniture to the duc de Choiseul, including commodes à la grecque, both for the château de Chanteloup and his Parisian hôtel, including a secretaire by Jean-François, now in the Louvre, which featured a similar herringbone pattern of bois satiné veneers in imitation of silk (illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 262).