CENTRAL RESTRAINT WINDOW COMMODE, MODEL BY ADAM WEISWEILER, BY HENRI DASSON (1825-1896), LOUIS XVI STYLE, 19th CENTURY in mahogany, mahogany veneer and very high quality flamed mahogany, ebony veneer on an oak core, decorated with reserve frames and fillets. It opens with three drawers in the waist and three leaves in the front. The front jambs are detached tapering columns with dark brass fluting and a twisted diabolo at the top; the back jambs are straight with the same decoration. Superb pierced ormolu plaques run the length of the three drawers, the central drawer featuring superb scrolling foliage motifs with intricate details of vine shoots, vine leaves and bunches of grapes with a Bacchic mask in the centre flanked by beautiful horns of plenty with rams eating fruit. The drawers on either side are decorated with similar beautifully executed scrolled foliage and vine motifs, with charming young Bacchanalian fauns seated playing horns with a tambourine with bells and a bagpipe by their side, and a beautiful richly carved bird pecking at grapes. The lower crosspieces adorned with scrapers, some of which are pearled, rest on very elegant feet in the shape of fluted tops, also dark brass, with delicate ormolu hooves. Some bronzes signed HD on the reverse, the mark of Henri Dasson, make it possible to attribute this piece of furniture with certainty. Recessed grey veined white marble top, curved with an ingot moulding with a bell motif in reserves. (Very good condition, a few chips to the corners of the marble, minor accidents, wear and tear). A COMMODE 'À VANTAUX', MODEL BY ADAM WEISWEILER, BY HENRI DASSON, LOUIS XVI STYLE, 19th CENTURY 91 x 144 x 58 CM - 35,8 x 56,7 x 22,8 IN. Based on the model executed by Adam Weisweiler and delivered in 1788 by Daguerre for the interior cabinet of Louis XVI at the Château de Saint-Cloud (now in the Château de Compiègne, Inv. C.46020). The original model has four legs in the front and two here. And a model identical to ours for the Empress's bedroom, also conserved at the Château de Compiègne. Henry Dasson (1825-1896). Following in the footsteps of the great Regency and Louis XV cabinetmaker Charles Cressent, Henry Dasson was both a bronze and furniture maker. He began his career as a watchmaker. He quickly showed real talent as a draughtsman, sculptor and then cabinetmaker. This wide range of skills made him one of the most important craftsmen and company directors of his time. At the 1878 Universal Exhibition, he exhibited as a bronzemaker alongside Ferdinand Barbedienne and the Susse brothers, and his furniture attracted the attention of the jury, critics and collectors. Among other copies and creations inspired by the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI styles, he presented a recreation of the King Louis XV's desk, made by two of the greatest cabinet-makers of the 18th century, Jean-François Oeben and Jean-Henri Riesener. In the eyes of the critics, this masterpiece placed him on a par with the great craftsmen of the 18th century, and the rich international clientele was not mistaken. Lady Ashburton bought the desk for 90,000 francs (2 million euros at present value). The perfect craftsmanship of his furniture and the bronzes adorning it attracted wealthy clients such as King Fouad I of Egypt, the New York billionaire Raphaël de Lamar and Count Devoto, who ordered sumptuous pieces to add to their eighteenth-century collections.