A rare Louis XVI ormolu-mounted ebony and Japanese black and gilt lacquer commode (meuble d'appui) circa 1765, stamped Carlin JME

with later Portor marble top, the frieze mounted with ormolu scrolling ribbon-tied rinceaux and large rosettes at the corners above two cupboard doors inset with ormolu-framed seventeenth-century Japanese lacquer panels depicting landscapes with figures and cranes opening to an amaranth and tulipwood interior featuring two slides and two drawers framing a coffre-fort, the concave sides inset with ormolu-framed seventeenth-century Japanese lacquer panels showing birds in landscapes, the front chamfered angles of the sides mounted with scrolling acanthus, the back ones mounted with ribbon-tied floral festoons, set on tapering feet mounted with ormolu acanthus; the back with metal placque with the letters DM or VM.

By repute the duc de Talleyrand
Collection de la duchesse de ..., sold Palais Galliera, Paris, December 2, 1975, lot 135
M. Anthony Tannouri (Collection d'un Grand Amateur), sold Ader Picard Tajan, Paris, November 15, 1983, lot 45

G. Wannenes, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe siècle, Milan, 1998, p. 287

Ormolu less orange in real life than in catalogue illustration. Later top with repaired break and with scattered chips and abrasions. Ormolu of high quality, well chased and gilt, now with some rubbing and minor surface dirt and oxidation in areas; most to extremities. Minor cracks to ormolu frieze on upper sections of sides. Ebonized areas with fine restored cracks. Lacquer also with repaired cracks and minor restorations. Some rubbing to gilding and secondary colors of lacquer. Lacquer panels of sides enlarged at time of manufacture of commode. Right front door with minor cracks to bottom. In overall very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

This form of cabinet, conceived in the goût grec style, is clearly inspired by the furniture designs by Louis-Joseph de Lorrain for Lalive de Jully. This architectural form was popularized by the ébéniste Jacques Dautriche (maître in 1765) between 1765 and 1770, see "Jacques Dautriche ébéniste sous Louis XV et Louis XVI," L'Estampille/L'Objet d'Art, July-August, 2001, in which the author Morgan Blaise refers to a group of twelve such cabinets by Dautriche. However, all of these cabinets are veneered and none are in known in lacquer.

Two similar commode-cabinets with Japanese lacquer by Joseph Baumhauer (died in 1772) are known. Each is of the same overall shape as this lot but with an arrangement of Japanese lacquer drawers in place of the double doors. The first, formerly in the Earl of Warwick's collection at Warwick Castle is illustrated Alexandre Pradère, French  Furniture Makers, 1989, p. 241, fig. 247; the second is illustrated Thibaut Wolvesperges, Le Meuble en Laque au XVIIIe Siècle, 2000, p. 83, fig. 62.