Offered by Franck Baptiste Provence
Beautiful and elegant chest of drawers in solid walnut.
Curved on the front and on the sides and opening with two drawers, this so-called "sauteuse" model features a beautiful Grenoble walnut and admirably exhibits the great construction principles of Jean François Hache.
The "pastille" feet at the front, cut out at the back, the smooth sides to obtain a mirror effect, the total absence of pegs or even the choice of quality wood and the branched grain of the heart of the liner. tree that responds to the two drawers.
In terms of construction, the frame is in fir.
The lower floor is assembled with tongue and grooves in the front crossmember and the side battens.
The bottoms of the drawers are nailed under the rabbets as is the rear panel, which is attached to the uprights with large wrought iron head nails.
These elements tell us that in accordance with the master’s other furniture, our dresser was assembled starting at the front and ending at the back.
This type of manufacture specific to the Ax dynasty allows aesthetic effects and offers pure and light lines, in particular by obtaining a smooth side, rounded uprights and a particularly thin base.
Add to this the absence of traces of ankles replaced by a key system that allows a perfect finish, but also the obtaining of an extremely thin front crossmember, for an equal or even superior overall strength.
The bronze handles are original.
Marble top of "brocatelle du Jura" origin.
Jean François Hache as the best cabinetmaker in the province was also one of the most copied, It is therefore important to specify that this chest of drawers is not in the taste of, or in the manner of the master but that it is well to her hand.
It is published on page 98 of René Fonvieille's book “La dynastie des Hache”.
Other identical dressers, in particular one presented during an exhibition in 1974 at the Dauphiné museum and which bears the date 1786, demonstrate that these very refined dressers did not experience the disenchantment encountered by the more loaded furniture of the reign of Louis XV and were produced by Jean François Hache for almost thirty years.
The wood qualities of our chest of drawers, its pure lines and its very colorful alpine marble are all assets that will delight the most demanding collectors.
Very good condition, marble, bronzes and original background.
Work of Jean François Hache in Grenoble, Louis XV period.
Width: 114 cm, Height: 82 cm, Depth: 59 cm
Jean François Hache (1730-1796)
Born January 10, 1730 in Grenoble, apprenticed with his father Pierre Hache at the age of 16, established on his own from 1754, appointed in 1770, following his father, cabinetmaker to the Duke of Orleans, Jean -François Hache is the heir to a dynasty of cabinetmakers that spanned four generations (Noël - Thomas - Pierre) and lasted for nearly 150 years. Jean-François is certainly the most famous of all, but shares with his father and grandfather the reputation of the greatest cabinetmaker in the provinces, considered in fact, even more than the famous Couleru, as capable of competing with the greatest masters. - Parisian cabinetmakers. It is almost established that Jean-François Hache stayed with Jean-François Oeben, the cabinetmaker of the King, and the latter would have probably even visited the Haches, very interested in their native wood veneers.
