BY MATHIEU CRIAERD, MID-18TH CENTURY

Mathieu Criaerd, maître in 1738.

The C-couronné poinçon was a tax mark used on any alloy containing copper between February 1745 and March 1749.

This commode is a beautiful and elegant example of the work of Mathieu Criaerd at the height of his powers, when this ébéniste delivered a number of masterpieces to the French Royal family, all commissioned through the famous marchand-mercier, Thomas-Joachim Hébert (1687–1773). The extremely elegant, almost cartilaginous mounts are typical of this particular phase of Louis XV lacquer commodes; the care taken to avoid any ponderous shapes is apparent in the openwork design of both the chutes and the sabots.

TRIPARTITE FRONT LACQUER COMMODES

The prototype of the series of lacquer commodes with tripartite fronts produced in the late 1730s and throughout the 1740s is the example by Bernard II van Risenburgh (c. 1696-1766) delivered in 1737, again by Hébert, to the Queen, Marie Leczinska, at the Palace of Fontainebleau, which is now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1985-1989, Musée du Louvre, 1990, No. 68; D. Alcouffe a.o., Le mobilier du Musée du Louvre, Vol. I, Dijon 1993, No. 42). In its predilection for light, fanciful mounts which seem to echo the exoticism of the lacquer panels, this presented a marked departure from the lacquer commodes made by Van Risenburgh and Gaudreaus earlier in the 1730s, a famous series of which was delivered to the Elector of Bavaria, Karl Albrecht, around 1730-1733, for the Munich Residenz where it remains (B. Langer, Die Möbelder Residenz München I, Die französischen Möbel des 18. Jahrhunderts, München-New York 1995, Nos. 14-17). The 1737 commode represents the first delivery to the French court by Hébert, who henceforth received many Royal commissions; it may have been this marchand-mercier who was primarily responsible for the invention of the new model and indeed, this novel shape could have attracted the attention of the Royal family to this dealer in the first place. Hébert delivered a series of such commodes in the ensuing years, executed by either van Risenburgh or Criaerd.

COMPARABLE COMMODES BY CRIAERD

Criaerd's best-known lacquered commode is the one executed in blue and white vernis and mounted in silvered bronze, which Hébert delivered in 1742 for the bedroom of Louis XV's mistress, Madame de Mailly, at the château of Choisy, now at the Louvre (exh. cat. Nouvelles acquisitions du département des Objets d'art 1990-1994, Musée du Louvre 1995, No. 47; Alcouffe a.o., No. 43). The framing mounts on its front and sides correspond to those of the present commode, but the keyhole escutcheons, chutes and sabots are of a different model. By contrast, all the principal mounts of the present commode are repeated on a slightly less wide example by Criaerd, veneered with kingwood and satinwood, which was delivered by Hébert to the Dauphin at Versailles in 1748 (D. Meyer, Le Mobilier de Versailles, Vol. I, Dijon 2002, No. 11). In addition, a number of lacquer commodes stamped by Criaerd are known on which the same mounts appear with subtle variations. An example was sold, Sotheby's Monaco, 22 June 1987, Lot 544 (A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris 1989, fig. 221); another is in the collection Crog-Carven in the Louvre (exh. cat. Cinq années d'enrichissement du Patrimoine national 1975-1980, Grand Palais 1980-1981, No. 77; Alcouffe a.o., No. 46). A number are illustrated by Th. Wolvesperges, Le Meuble Français en Laque au XVIIIe siècle, Bruxelles-Paris 2000, pp. 299-300, figs. 8, 26 and 166. Although several of these mounts were also used by other ébénistes such as Jacques Dubois, Adrien Faizelot Delorme and Pierre Roussel, others appear to have been exclusive to Criaerd. It is likely that they were supplied to him by Hébert and he may have produced the entire series for this marchand-mercier.

The present commode is distinguished by the striking panel of polychrome Chinese lacquer used to decorate the front. Originally intended to be seen vertically and showing large peony branches on rocky ground, it has here been employed horizontally, almost creating the effect of a bold textile pattern. Criaerd appears to have favoured lacquer with such large-scale flowers. Panels that are particularly close in design were employed by him on a commode and a corner cupboard sold at Hugo Helbing, Frankfurt am Main, 23 June 1936, Lots 242 and 244.