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Lot Essay
This imposing commode, with bold C-scroll mounts flanking trailing roses, all on a ground of richly patterned bois satiné, can be firmly attributed to Charles Cressent, one of the select group of ébénistes considered important enough to be mentioned by name in the 18th century, and whose fame remained undimmed throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Unusually the carcase of this commode is made largely of oak, unusual for Cressent, which may indicate that the carcase was sub-commissioned by Cressent to another compatriot (A. Pradère, Charles Cressent, Dijon, 2003, p. 286).
Charles Cressent was the son of the sculpteur du roi François Cressent. He initially worked for the sculptors Girardon and le Lorrain, and was elected maître sculpteur in 1714. he subsequently also qualified as an ébéniste, shortly after his marriage to the widow of Joseph Poitou (formerly ébéniste du Régent, the duc d'Orléans), and was appointed ébéniste ordinaire des palais de SAR Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans Régent du royaume in 1719. Cressent's apprenticeship as a sculptor doubtless accounts for the extraordinarily sculptural nature of his work as a cabinet-maker, while through his work for the Régent, he would have met the latter's architect Gilles Oppenord, whose visual vocabulary included many motifs later employed by Cressent, such as female and putto masks, floral arabesques and exotic animals such as monkeys and parrots.
Cressent's business rapidly expanded, and from the outset of his career he flouted the strict guild regulations of the day by producing his own bronzes, employing as many as five fondeurs. This accounts for the fact that he never signed any of his pieces, and also for the remarkable homogeneity of his oeuvre, as he was able to maintain a remarkable level of artistic control over all aspects of his atelier's output. Another interesting feature of his work is the consistent use of exotic imported woods such as bois satiné, amaranth and a variant of bois satiné, bois de Cayenne, while woods more commonly used by contemporary cabinet-makers, such as rosewood and kingwood, appear not to have been used at all by Cressent.
Related commodes include one with identical mounts to the front (handles, C-scrolls and trailing foliage) in the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Lyon, and another in a private collection with identical C-scrolls, the same trailing foliage but shorter, and knob handles (Pradère, op. cit, pp. 167 and 286, respectively).
Charles Cressent was the son of the sculpteur du roi François Cressent. He initially worked for the sculptors Girardon and le Lorrain, and was elected maître sculpteur in 1714. he subsequently also qualified as an ébéniste, shortly after his marriage to the widow of Joseph Poitou (formerly ébéniste du Régent, the duc d'Orléans), and was appointed ébéniste ordinaire des palais de SAR Monseigneur le Duc d'Orléans Régent du royaume in 1719. Cressent's apprenticeship as a sculptor doubtless accounts for the extraordinarily sculptural nature of his work as a cabinet-maker, while through his work for the Régent, he would have met the latter's architect Gilles Oppenord, whose visual vocabulary included many motifs later employed by Cressent, such as female and putto masks, floral arabesques and exotic animals such as monkeys and parrots.
Cressent's business rapidly expanded, and from the outset of his career he flouted the strict guild regulations of the day by producing his own bronzes, employing as many as five fondeurs. This accounts for the fact that he never signed any of his pieces, and also for the remarkable homogeneity of his oeuvre, as he was able to maintain a remarkable level of artistic control over all aspects of his atelier's output. Another interesting feature of his work is the consistent use of exotic imported woods such as bois satiné, amaranth and a variant of bois satiné, bois de Cayenne, while woods more commonly used by contemporary cabinet-makers, such as rosewood and kingwood, appear not to have been used at all by Cressent.
Related commodes include one with identical mounts to the front (handles, C-scrolls and trailing foliage) in the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Lyon, and another in a private collection with identical C-scrolls, the same trailing foliage but shorter, and knob handles (Pradère, op. cit, pp. 167 and 286, respectively).