Rare and elegant commode curved on the front and on the sides, in amaranth veneer arranged in sheets in the frames. It opens with four drawers in three rows: two large and two short and asymmetrical .
Rich ornamentation of chiseled and gilt bronzes: the rococo frontal cartouche, mounts with oak leaf windings, foliated handles and clogs, rosettes on the sides.
Flanders red marble top.
Dimensions: h. 89 cm, l. 144 cm, p. 85 cm
By Etienne Doirat (1675-25 June 1732), Regency period, 18th century
Although not stamped, our commode belongs by its shape and its bronze ornamentations to an identified corpus of the production of Etienne Doirat, one of the most talented cabinetmakers under the Regency.
This group of chests of drawers listed in public and private collections, some of which stamped E. Doirat are characterized by the almost identical front cartouche.
On our chest of drawers, this cartouche is formed by two scalloped lambrequins joined by a clip they are extended by branches with acanthus foliage and flowers with beaded friezes. Inside are two keyholes, the first with a lion's mouth, the second formed by two stylized dolphins facing each other with lion's paws under a valance.
Chests of drawers by Etienne Doirat with the frontal cartouche:
Commode in identical "tombeau" shape:
- Commode stamped Doirat, Christie's London, July 10, 2008 lot n 43
- Unstamped chest of drawers, doc. Me Tajan, published in "French 18th century furniture" by Kjelleberg
Commode of different shape, identical front cartouche:
- Chest of drawers with three drawers, stamped Doirat, Christie's London, November 27, 2018 lot n 509
- Sarcophagus chest of drawers, stamped Doirat, J. Paul Getty museum, Los Angeles
- Chest of drawers with two drawers, stamped Doirat, private collection, illustrated in J. - D. Augarde
- Chest of drawers with three drawers, stamped by Migeon, but attributed to Doirat from the former Eugène Kraemer collection, sale at Galerie Georges Petit (Paris), May 5-6, 1913, lot 141; former Ogden Mills collection, Paris, rue de Varenne; then by descent to his sister Béatrice, Countess of Granard; then by descent; Christie's sale, London, July 6, 2016, lot 51.
Etienne Doirat was one of the rare cabinetmakers of his time to affix his stamp, but that only at the end of his career. In thirty years of activity he has produced a significant number of pieces if the volume is judged by his inventory after death, but most of his works are unsigned.
These are first and foremost chests of drawers which constitute the bulk of its production. The inventory drawn up on July 14, 1732, a few days after his death, mentions a large number of them, "in tomb", "in the Regency", in "Esse", but also mentions large libraries, cupboards, buffets, secretaries, regulators and various models of gaming tables, living room, bedside. These pieces of furniture are frequently dressed in amaranth or violet wood, veneered in leaves or inlaid with squares.
He was, unlike his colleagues, the owner of his stock of bronze models intended for his exclusive use, mentioned in his inventory as "imperfect lead models used as garnish for dressers and others".
Doirat Etienne (1675-25 June 1732)
Descendant of a family of craftsmen who had worked for at least a century in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, he was born to a mason father, around 1670, and obtained his master's degrees in the first years of the 18th century. He would work all his life on rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, or in its immediate surroundings, for a wealthy French and foreign clientele. Its furnishings, often of a sumptuous character, belong for the most part to the style in honor under the Regency.