Important early 18th century Louis XIV Régence marquetry commode attr. Etienne Doirat (1675-1732)
A marquetry commode with a slightly bowed front and rounded corners on bracket feet, showing a three zone front, with two large and two smaller drawers. The handles and escutcheons cast with leaves, the central apron with an elaborate pierced foliate headed mount. The cannelure of the corners with inlaid brass banding, the front feet as well as the corner tops with elaborate gilt bronze Luis XIV ornaments. Front and two sides with mirrored and framed marquetry which creates a three dimensional, lively effect. The Louis XIV / Régence Commode is topped with a moulded red marble top (marbre rouge du Languedoc).
Although this exceptional commode does not bear a stamp (stamping furniture only became commonplace after 1745), its shape, its quality of manufacture and its luxurious yet well-balanced use of Louis XIV/Régence gilt-bronze mounts on an elaborate geometrical marquetry all lead to the workshop of the importantLouis XIV period cabinet maker Etienne Doirat (1675-1732).
Étienne Doirat came from a family of cabinet makers that had been established in Paris from the beginning of the 1600s. Doirat only began to stamp his furniture at the end of his career, and accordingly only few pieces bear his stamp and can serve as comparison pieces for newly discovered pieces of furniture. He constructed various furniture forms, including commodes, armoires, corner cupboards, and tables, often veneered with simple marquetry in exotic woods. Although he did not do the casting, chasing and gilding, Doirat tried to keep exclusive control over the models for his bronze furniture mounts. One year before his death, in 1731 Doirat established a shop to sell his work on the rue Saint Honoré, the famous street for luxury dealers. On his death, the shop was taken over by his son-in-law, also a cabinet maker or ébéniste.
Sampels of his work can be seen in the most famous museums of the world, such as for example the Musée Carnavalet and the Petit Palais in Paris, the J.Paul Getty Museum in Malibu and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
See: Pierre Kjellberg: Le Mobilier Francais du XVIII Siècle, Paris, 2008, p. 302-305. fig. p. 304 (very similar Régence commode showing the same proportions and features as the commode offered here).
Condition: good, min. wear consistent of age and use, min. fading, 1 handle replaced – detailed condition report on request
