Commode by Delorme
Period: Louis XV
Attributed to Adrien Delorme, received as Master in 1748
Marks: chalk inscription 3356 twice plus a paper label with an inscription and N°7
Provenance:
• Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1809-1879),
• His son, Baron Léopold de Rothschild (1845-1917),
• His son, Baron Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942),
• Baron Edmund de Rothschild (born in 1916),
• Frank Partridge & Sons, end of the 1940s
• Blackwell collection.
Commode by Delorme (contd)
Bibliography:
Pierre Verlet, Les Ebénistes du XVIIIème Siècle Français, 1963, p. 116
Size:
Height 86.5cm. 2 ft 10 in.
Width 145 cm. 4 ft 9 in.
Depth 68 cm. 2 ft 2 in.
This commode has a sinuous form and is curved on all sides.
It has two drawers without a rail.
It has a rosewood veneer arranged in an inlaid frieze of flowers in wood tinted in green, yellow and pink.
On the front, this marquetry pattern is enclosed in a large cartouche in the middle, outlined by a gilded bronze frame arranged on reserves of amaranth wood. The cartouche is flanked on both sides by two panels that echo each other, which are also surrounded by reserves in amaranth wood encircled by a gilded bronze frame.
The cartouche in the middle is asymmetrical, and is composed of palms, rinceaux of leaves, openwork rocaille and shells enclosing the keyholes and the drawer handles formed of scrolls of foliage for the bottom drawer and of dragons for the top drawer.
The main cartouche, asymmetrical in shape, is superimposed by another larger and more rectilinear one outlined by a finer bronze frame.
The bottom is embellished with an asymmetrical apron ornament formed of palms, acanthus leaves and small flowers.
Commode by Delorme (contd 2)
The asymmetrical vertical mounts at the corners have an openwork pattern with an ornamentation of rocaille, palms and foliage, prolonged by a reed on the crest of the legs falling down to the leafy feet
The sides are embellished with a similar marquetry arranged in a central quadrilobate medallion outlined by a bronze ornamentation of palms, rinceaux of foliage and openwork rocaille over a ground of amaranth wood, framed by four spandrels in rosewood inlaid with flowers, the whole surrounded by an ornamentation in gilded bronze.
All the crests of the apron and the feet are marked by reeds in gilded bronze. Marquetry reserves highlight the front stiles just above the legs.
The top is in Sarrancolin marble with an ogee edging.
Comparable works:
This commode belongs to a small group of highly similar commodes all decorated on the front with a large asymmetrical cartouche and spectacular drawer handles in the shape of dragons, attributed to Delorme on the basis of the example at the Petit Palais in Paris, which bears his signature.
A recent restoration has revealed the mark of Pierre Roussel, who was received as Master 1748.
This could imply that Delorme, acting as a merchant-cabinetmaker, might be the person who ordered this commode, of which he was the author and owner of the model, and that Roussel merely executed it.
A similar commode, stamped by Delorme, belonged to the Matthew Schutz collection.
Another one belonged to Lady Jane Douglas and another to Mrs. Price.
The latter was part of the collections of the Grand Duc et Margrave de Bade.
Commode by Delorme (contd 3)
Adrien Delorme
Son of the Master-Cabinetmaker François Delorme (who died in 1768), Adrien Delorme, belonged to a line of craftsman whose original name was Faizelot. His brothers Jean-Louis and Alexis were also master-cabinetmakers. He was received as Master in 1748 and left his father’s workshop in rue Tiquetonne to move to rue du Temple where he established himself as a merchant-cabinetmaker. He was one of the best cabinetmakers during the reign of Louis XV and was a juryman of his guild from 1768 to 1770. He earned his reputation thanks to his highly original and superb marquetry. One of his favourite ornamental motifs is composed of very sinuous rinceaux inlaid alone on a ground of a chevron-patterned veneer in sharp contrasts of light and darker wood He also had a strong inclination for Chinese and Japanese lacquers, as well as European varnishes imitating those of China and Japan. According to Pierre Verlet, « His works are among the most audacious in the rocaille style of the Louis XV period ».
Furniture bearing his mark can be found in major public and private collections, in particular, the Louvre, the Musée du Petit Palais, in Paris, the Jean-Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and Waddesdon Manor near London.