Louis XV Style Marquetry Commodes with Gilt Mounts and Marble
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Bombe Front - More commonly associated with a dome shaped dessert, "bombe" in furniture parlance means "puffed out". In profile the piece is serpentine shaped, narrow at the top, swelling out towards the middle and continuing to the floor, though sometimes it narrowed again at the foot. Drawer fronts are curved in section. Bombe pieces are often highly decorated with marquetry inlay, or veneered and set with brass or ormolu mounts. The most common use of the word, is in the description of the 'bombe commode'.
The bombe design was particularly popular in the 18th century, during the reign of Louis XIV, when it was used to create furniture pieces with a curved, rounded bulging shape. This design was used on furniture in many styles, including Baroque, Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI. The bombe chest is one of the most iconic furniture piece featuring this design. They were usually made of precious woods like mahogany, rosewood, and walnut, and feature elaborate inlay, gilded ornaments and ormolu. Other items of furniture where the bombe design can be seen include cabinets, commodes, and desks. - Marquetry - In marquetry inlay, contrasting woods, and other materials such as ivory, shell and metal are inlaid either as panels or in a single continuous sheet over the surface of the piece. The design may be straightforward, such as a shell pattern or a basket of flowers, or it may be infinitely complex, with swirling tendrils of leaves, flowers and foliage, such as one finds, for example, in the "seaweed" patterns on longcase clocks of the William and Mary and Queen Anne periods.
- Inlay - Decorative patterns inserted into the main body of a piece of furniture, generally in wood of contrasting colour and grain, though brass, ivory, ebony, shell and sometimes horn have been used. Inlay may consist of a panel of well figured timber inset into a cabinet door front, geometric patterns, or complex and stylized designs of flowers, swags of foliage, fruits and other motifs. As a general rule, in pieces where the carcase is constructed in the solid, the inlay is relatively simple such as stringing, cross banding and herringbone banding. Where more elaborate and decorative work was required veneer was used. Inlay has been fashionable from at least the latter half of the 17th century, when a variety of elaborate forms were developed
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
A French Louis XV ormolu mounted tulipwood, amaranth and sycamore marquetry commode, circa 1750, the original shaped pale Rouge Royal marble top above two drawers, the inlay depicting a trailing vine, stamped 'Denis', 82 cm high, 100 cm wide, 43 cm deep
Louis XV style fruitwood and marquetry commode, c. 1900, of bombe serpentine form with a moulded marble top above two drawers inlaid with sprays of flowers, the side similarly inlaid, raised on cabriole legs, with gilt bronze leaf cast mounts throughout, h
A French Louis XV style kingwood and marquetry commode, with rouge marble top of serpentine form above two drawers with floral marquetry decoration and gilt bronze foliate decoration with gilt bronze handles, the sides of bombe outline with conforming deco
A French Empire style mahogany four drawer marble top commode. 90 cm high, 120 cm wide, 58 cm deep