A LOUIS XVI STYLE GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED MAHOGANY AND part ebonized COMMODE AFTER THE CELEBRATED MODEL BY ADAM Weisweiler French, CIRCA 1900

surmounted by a brèche d'Alep marble top, fitted with three frieze drawers above three cupboard doors. The reverse with an old paper label printed M & CIA / 52137 A.

Overall good condition and presentation; the carcass and veneers with the usual nicks, chips and bruises consistent with age and use; the shelf of middle and right cupboards lacking; small losses to veneer to bottom left corner and to right edge of central door; minor losses to veneer around the keyholes; tarnishing and dirt to gilt-bronze, mostly probably cleaned at some point but retaining original gilding; extensive bruises and some losses to molded edge of front left corner; traces of green oxidation to gilt-bronze collars of feet and reeded banding of apron; the marble with the usual minor surface scratches and chips to edges.
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.

Weisweiler had a wide repertoire of commodes which were all based on a similar form: those fitted with drawers and those with hinged panels (vantaux). Although Weisweiler did not appear to be the inventor of these commodes à vantaux, with three panels, of which only two opened, the central panel moving across the right hand panel by means of a flying hinge, they formed a major part of his production. According to Lemmonier, op. cit., of the fifty commodes listed, forty-three have panels and only seven are fitted with drawers.
In an inventory drawn up at Versailles in 1787, one finds such a commode in the bedroom of Madame de Pompadour, `une commode en bois d'acajou demi-régence, ouvrante à trois vantaux dont deux à brisure, orné de pieds à gaine cannelés à godrons, les pieds à gaine isolés et cannelés, idem chapiteaux à moulures unies. Le tout bronze or moulu avec dessus de marbre griotte d'Italie veiné'.
Weisweiler was particularly fond of this form of commode and utilized all the materials he had at his disposition: they were in mahogany as well as thuya wood and a number were also decorated in pietre dure and lacquer. For a related commode in pietre dure stamped Weisweiler, now in the British Royal Collection, see Pradère, op. cit., p. 402, fig. 498. This commode was also sometimes called a `commode à brisure'. Without changing the initial construction of the commode, Weisweiler made certain changes in style from 1789-90 and during the Empire period, although he kept its basic form.

The present commode is a faithfull copy of the original supplied in 1788 by Daguerre for the Cabinet intérieur of Louis XVI at the Château de Saint-Cloud for 3,000 L.