A Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Lacquer Commode, Signed and Dated Henry Dasson 1870

Henry Dasson (1825–1896) was one of the leading French cabinetmakers of the 19th century continuing in the tradition of the great 18th-century Parisian ébénistes producing case furniture veneered in tropical woods or lacquer of the highest quality mounted in gilt bronze. He began his career as a clockmaker and bronze manufacturer and turned to cabinetmaking in earnest in 1871 with the acquisition of the workshop and remaining stock of the late ébéniste Charles-Guilluame Winckelsen (1821-1871). He participated in the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1778 where he exhibited a copy of the celebrated Bureau du Roi by Oeben and Riesener and was praised for having created 'par la perfection de ses oevures une très haute situation à laquelle nous applaudissons chaleureusement'. In 1883 he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur and in 1889 raised to the title of Officier following his successful participation in the 1889 Exposition Universelle, where he exhibited furniture in the Louis XIV, XV, and XVI styles.