Louis XIV Grenoble commode

Louis XIV chest of drawers in plum veneer and marquetry with diamond-tipped friezes, the slightly curved front opening onto three wide drawers in three rows, the top, encircled by a brass mould, with geometrical decorations of large diamond tips alternating with smaller ones inscribed in circles, the uprights and intermediate crosspieces darkened with polished brass fluting, the sides with diamond-tipped frieze motifs, the profiled feet with spouts.
The cabinet is adorned with high-quality chased and gilded bronze ornamentation: lock escutcheons with confronting sphinxes, espagnolette-figure pull handles, espagnolette falls at the top of the uprights, interlaced leg shoes, confronting leafy scrolls on the apron.
Of classical architecture, this chest of drawers is of great elegance, as much for its bronze trim and the quality of its veneering as for its height (low model) - width ratio (130 cm), and lastly for the play of alternating heartwood (known as perfect wood) and sapwood, punctuated by diamond-shaped friezes (repeated throughout the chest of drawers) which, made possible by the oblique flow of the veneer leaves, illuminates the piece of furniture, already well enhanced by its rich gilded bronze trim.
Grenoble, circa 1715 - 1720.
Hache or close to Hache circle.


Condition : Piece of furniture discovered in an excellent state of preservation, with its frame and veneer intact, the top undamaged except for a slight sag, its original bronzes and its iron larder locks.
Restored by our cabinetmaker, the bronzes gilded and the veneer re-varnished with a buffer.

This Grenoble chest of drawers incorporates many elements that are considered specific to the Hache workshop, so much so in fact that the temptation to attribute it is great.
First of all, its dimensions and shapes: uprights with characteristic wide round corners, its unique plum veneer, which is rather rare in Dauphiné (more common in Eastern France, although on models with different shapes), but occasionally used in friezes by Thomas Hache.
Then there are his bronzes: lock escutcheons and tie-rods used extensively by Thomas and Pierre Hache, but above all, the hoofs on the feet, very particular to Thomas Hache (although we have seen them, albeit very incidentally, on one or two Lyon chests of drawers). The arrangement of the bronzes on the apron, although of an unknown model, is entirely in the Hache style, as is the presence of horizontal and vertical fluting (and even the particular detail of the asymmetry between the three glyphs on the uprights, entirely in the Hache spirit).
Finally, the frame: the assembly is consistent throughout, especially for the drawer boxes, which are recessed on three sides (this is worth emphasizing, as it is very rarely the case in the Dauphiné, and is therefore considered a decisive factor in attributing it to the Hache). As for the rest, the back is made of nailed fir planks, the sides are smooth, and the top is slightly convex...
As a precaution, we won't formally attribute it to the Hache, even though we regularly see other chests of drawers which, although they don't have as many elements of concordance (in particular, the recessed drawers, which, if absent, allow us to rule definitively), are attributed to them.
However, we believe that at the very least, this chest of drawers was made by an excellent Grenoble cabinetmaker who apprenticed with Thomas Hache.