Lot 417
  • 417

A GEORGE III GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED ROSEWOOD BANDED PADOUK DRESSING COMMODE, CIRCA 1770, ATTRIBUTED TO PIERRE LANGLOIS |

Estimate
5,000 - 8,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • 75cm. high, 121.5cm. wide, 53cm. deep; 29½in., 47¾in., 20¾in.
the quarter veneered top with a three quarter pierced brass gallery, top inlaid with a marquetry ribbon tied garland and foliate spandrels, above an arrangement of nine drawers surrounding a central kneehole cupboard

Provenance

Maples and Company, London, Grosvenor House Antiques Fair, 1971;
Sotheby's London, Important English Furniture, 30 June 2004, lot 196.

Condition

In overall good restored condition and ready to place. Top bowing slightly, consistent with age. Evidence of restorations and replacements to small areas of marquetry inlay. Generally minor restorations and replacement to veneers and cock beading throughout. Handles, locks and mounts probably later replacements. The legs and underside with later strengthening supports. Decorative.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

The Seven Years War (1754-1763) did little to stem the English appetite for French decorative arts and Langlois was a key proponent producing a wide range of furniture in the French taste. Comparatively little was known of Langlois’ oeuvre before Peter Thornton and William Rieder's ground-breaking series of articles published in The Connoisseur throughout the early 1970s[1]. In these essays Thornton and Rieder associate a body of previously unattributed pieces to Langlois, cautiously hanging their attributions around two documented commodes; one at Woburn Abbey supplied to the Duke of Bedford (1760) and another supplied to the Earl of Coventry for Croome Court (1764), now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Accession Number 59.127). Langlois' name appears in the bills of several other noteworthy aristocratic patrons including the Duchess of Northumberland and Horace Walpole, and feature's in Thomas Mortimer’s trade directory The Universal Director (1763) where he is described as performing ‘all sorts of curious inlaid work, particularly commodes in the foreign taste’[2]. Commodes in the Louis XV and Louis XVI style, decorated with fine foliate marquetry panels and enriched with bold gilt-bronze mounts, were undoubtedly Langlois’ specialism. In a later article, Rieder identifies a group of commodes dating to the late 1760s/early 1770s, from ‘the restrained bombe curve of the front corners, the use of diagonal linear striping to form pronounced geometric patterns on the front, sides and top’ and his characteristic choice of decorative motifs[3]. These include Langlois’ penchant for the fleur-de-lys at the corners of marquetry panels which are often inlaid with scrolling chains of husks and leaves, and all of which are evident on present commode. Other distinctive traits include the gilt-bronze mounts which are identical to several pieces attributed to Langlois. Whilst they also appear on contemporary case-furniture from other workshops, it is conceivable that they were supplied by his son-in-law, the bronzier Dominique Jean, with whom he shared premises at 39 Tottenham Court Road[4]. Jean is known to have supplied mounts to other leading cabinet-makers including Christopher Fuhrlohg (active 1762 – 1787).

[1] Thornton, P. and Rieder, W., 'Pierre Langlois, Ebéniste', The Connoisseur, Pts. 1-5, December 1971 and February-May 1972

[2] Ibid., Pt. 1, p. 285.

[3] Rieder, W., 'More on Pierre Langlois', The Connoisseur, September 1974, pp. 11-12,

[4] Beard, G. and Gilbert, C., The Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660-1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 526.