Property of a Lady
A French gilt-bronze mounted ebony and acajou moucheté cabinet, after Weisweiler, Paris, 1880
Lot Closed
May 18, 03:51 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 25,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property of a Lady
A French gilt-bronze mounted ebony and acajou moucheté cabinet, after Weisweiler, Paris,
1880
of breakfront outline, with the breccia marble top above a long frieze drawer on three cupboards opening to reveal two adjustable shelves
112.5cm. high, 156cm. wide, 50cm. deep; 3ft. 8in., 5ft. 1 1/2 in., 1ft. 7 5/8 in.
Sotheby's London, M&N Uzal, 19th century excellence, 28 October 2009, lot 50;
where acquired by the current owner.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
A. Pradère, French furniture makers, The art of the ébéniste from Louis XIV to the Revolution, Tours, 1989, p. 397-8, nos. 488 and 491.
The distinctive fountain mount on the present commode and their general structure are directly inspired from the work of Adam Weisweiler (1744-1820). For example, the fountain mounts with the three graces are found on a late 18th century thuyawood commode attributed to Adam Weisweiler formerly in the Earl of Rosebery's Collection at Mentmore, sold Sotheby's, London, 17 April 1964, lot 53 (illustrated in Pradère, op. cit., p. 397, no. 488). These same fountain mounts also appear on a commode attributed to Weisweiler now in the Swedish Royal Collections (see op. cit., p. 398, no. 491) and on a commode sold Christie's, London, 7 July 2005, lot 150. The mounts are also on a pair of Weisweiler yew-wood commodes in the collections of the Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon (inv. no. V6172-3).
In the late 19th century, the well-established Beurdeley dynasty was interestingly using the fountain mounts as featured on a pair of meuble d'appui sold Sotheby's, New York, 19 April 2007, lot 171 and on a bookcase sold Sotheby's, Paris, 13 November 2018, lot 51.