Overview
A fine French Louis XV style bombé commode in kingwood with Vernis Martin panel, ormolu mounts throughout, and original breche d'alep marble top. Circa 1880. The swelling, outward-curving bombé form - viewed from the front, the sides, or the three-quarter angle - is in constant movement, swelling at the centre, narrowing to the cabriole legs, expanding again at the serpentine front. One of the most sculptural forms in the entire history of furniture making, executed here with total conviction.
Key Features
- French Louis XV style, circa 1880
- Full bombé and serpentine form throughout
- Kingwood veneers in bold chevron pattern — continuous figuring around all curves
- Original breche d'alep marble top - warm cream ground with veins of pink, ochre and rust
- Vernis Martin fête galante panel - elegantly dressed figures in an amber landscape
- Exceptional ormolu mounts throughout - Rococo foliate surround, egg-and-dart frieze, acanthus corner mounts, scrolled sabot feet
- Interior lined in richly figured rosewood with shaped adjustable shelf
- All mounts original - no losses
Craftsmanship & Detail
The kingwood veneers are laid in a bold chevron pattern across the serpentine surfaces — a technique that demands the cabinet-maker mirror each leaf of timber continuously around the curves without breaking the figuring at any joint. Here it flows without interruption, the warm amber and copper tones shifting as the light moves across the bombé form throughout the day. The ormolu mounts are exceptional: cast gilt bronze frames the Vernis Martin panel in a continuous surround of Rococo foliate scrolls — asymmetric, fluid, and precisely modelled. The Vernis Martin panel depicts a fête galante scene — paint still vivid, the scene still legible, the lacquer surface intact and in lovely condition. The warm amber ground of the panel harmonises with the kingwood surround in a way that suggests the painter and the cabinet-maker worked in deliberate concert. The breche d'alep marble top - quarried in southern France and favoured by French cabinet-makers for its warm tones - complements the kingwood perfectly.
