Louis XVI ebony and camomile lacquer commode

A Louis XVI ormolu-mounted ebony and camomile lacquer commode attributed to Joseph Baumhauer, called ‘Joseph, maître’.

circa 1767

86 x 151 x 68 cm

The commode having a grey marble top and two doors mounted with camomile lacquer panels, decorated with polychrome figures and buildings, mounted with gilt-bronze rams’ masks and enclosing three drawers, veneered with tulipwood and bordered with amaranth, stamped ‘JME’. This was the stamp of the juré (elected officer) of the guild.

Edward Holmes Baldock, a dealer in French furniture of the grand style in the early 19th Century, supplied a ‘Fine Mosaic Commode’ to Lord Gwydyr on May 9 1824 at a cost of £120. A very similar commode in cream lacquer stamped by Joseph is in the Villa Ephrussi-Rothschild, St. Jean, Cap Ferrat.