A rare pair of Louis XV marquetry console commodes 

A pair of marquetry console commodes resting on two curved legs. The console commodes open with a drawer revealing a leather-lined writing desk, revealing a compartment. They are richly inlaid with amaranth, sycamore maple, and tinted woods. The impressive belt is in a so-called “crossbow” shape, curved on the sides, and adorned with motifs of blossoming tree branches set within cartouches. The console commodes are decorated with gilded and chiseled bronze elements on the keyholes, corner mounts, and feet.  
Stamped by Carel and bearing the JME hallmark  
Louis XV period  
Customary restorations, leather likely replaced  
H. 85.5 x W. 80.5 x D. 45.5 cm  

The pair of console commodes we present today is likely the first you have ever encountered. Indeed, not only is this piece of furniture very rare in its form, but the stamp it bears is also not commonly seen, as we will demonstrate.  
The typology of the console commode is somewhat episodic in the history of 18th-century furniture. The Metropolitan Museum even notes that it corresponds to a relatively short production period, covering the 1750s, a decade during which this type of furniture was fashionable. For example, the Dauphin ordered a pair from the merchant Lazare Duvaux, who recorded the delivery in his journal on February 3, 1757. The Metropolitan Museum owns a model of a console commode in Coromandel lacquer made by BVRB II, which reflects the elite's taste for this type of fantasy furniture, often intended to hold a mirror or a painting in a dining room. Our pair of console commodes is thus a rare testament to the extreme inventiveness of 18th-century wood craftsmen.

The pair of consoles bears the stamp of the cabinetmaker Carel on the left crossbar of each console. Jacques Philippe Carel was a cabinetmaker who became a master in 1723. During his early years, he worked in Grenoble in the workshops of Thomas Hache. From this, he developed great skill in veneering, and particularly in his Louis XV production, he showed a clear preference for floral marquetry. Our pieces feature a bold, broad motif of blossoming branches extending along the belt. The bronzes on our consoles are recurring motifs in Carel’s works, as we find the same feet and corner mounts on a bureau plat sold at Christie’s on 04/27/21, lot 259.

More interestingly, a wall-mounted console, lot 190, was sold at Artémisia Auction on 05/28/2014. This console is very similar to ours, with a similar wood selection and the same crossbow shape. We can, therefore, think that Carel, whose identified works are relatively few, produced several such consoles, making them unique.

Carel counted among his distinguished clientele the royal house of Sweden (the Drottningholm Palace still preserves one of his commodes), the royal house of France through Gaudreaus, who subcontracted from Carel, and the Prince of Württemberg. His furniture was admired for the refined elegance they displayed, the consistently high-quality choice of bronzes, and the finesse of the shapes and veneers. The Louvre thus holds a two-door commode by him. The Frick Collection in New York also preserves a commode with floral marquetry in end-grain wood, and the Château de Versailles counts among its collections a pair of slope desks.  
Carel left behind a few stamped pieces, which increased the value of our set. In this way, rarity is perhaps the word that best defines this pair of console commodes.