LOUIS XIV PERIOD HALF-MOON CHEST OF DRAWERS Stamped by Jacques-Laurent Cosson In rosewood veneer and bouquets of flowers au naturel on a stained sycamore base, chased and gilt bronze ornamentation, restored onyx top, the front opening out into three drawers and two side panels, resting on tapered legs, stamped several times J.L.COSSON and JME hallmark, the top inscribed on the reverse "a seligman", printed label on the back inscribed "EXHIBITION "L'ART FRANCAIS / AU SERVICE DE LA SCIENCE" / LABORATOIRES SCIENTIFIQUES / AVRIL MAI 1923 / Entry No. Catalogue No. (...) / Title of work: I commode demi lune / Name and address of owner: Arnold SELIGMANN 23 Pl. Vendôme"; restorations, lock escutcheons added H. 90 cm (35 ½ in.) l. 111 cm (43 ¾ in.) P. 43.5 cm (17 ¼ in.) Bibliography: B.G.B. Pallot, Les meubles peints sur fond d'érable et sycomore, Connaissance des Arts, February 1987, p. 102 (reproduced). La Renaissance de l'Art Français et des Industries de luxe, June 1926, p. 359 (reproduced). Provenance : Former Arnold Seligmann collection (1870-1932) ; Former Alfred Loewenstein collection (1877-1928); Mrs Alfred Loewenstein (1888-1938), née Madeleine Misonne, his widow; Countess Roger van der Straten Ponthoz, née Paule Misonne, his sister; Mrs André Haegelsteen née Michelle van der Straten Pontoz, his daughter; Regnier Haegelsteen, her son. A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted, tulipwood and painted sycamore demi lune commode, stamped by Jacques-Laurent Cosson The eighteenth century was constantly seeking technical innovation and refinement, and furniture covered in Chinese lacquer, Martin varnish, painted sheet metal or porcelain plates was created under the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI. Painted sycamore veneered furniture is part of this tradition, but its production was extremely limited in time, from around 1770 to 1800. Our chest of drawers therefore belongs to a very limited corpus of which only seven examples are known: * A chest of drawers stamped by Joseph Baumhauer (Jaime-Ortiz Patiño sale, Sotheby's New York, 20 May 1992, lot 93); * An unstamped secrétaire en armoire, attributed to Joseph Baumhauer and, like the previous commode, from the former Nicolas Beaujon collection, now in Waddesdon Manor; * A chiffonier stamped by Ferdinand Bury and Jean-Baptiste Tuart II (former Arnold Seligmann, Jean Davray, Jean Gismondi and Roberto Polo collections, then sold at Sotheby's Paris on 16 December 2004, lot 173); * A pair of interiors attributed to Ferdinand Bury (former collection of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore Towers, Sotheby's sale 18-20 May 1977, lot 452, then former Riahi collection, Sotheby's Paris sale, 6 July 2017, lot 140); * A pair of cabinets following on from the previous two pieces (former collection of the Earls of Rosebery at Mentmore Towers, Sotheby's sale 18-20 May 1977, lot 451); * A pair of low cupboards (one of the two is in the collection of the Earls of Rosebery at Dalmeny House, Scotland); * A pair of consoles made later than the previous examples, under the Consulate, and kept in the collections of the Banque de France. The first two pieces of this furniture can be identified in the sale of the Court banker Nicolas Beaujon in 1787: the sale catalogue also tells us that the illustrious connoisseur "ordered its distribution and taste" and that the painter responsible for its decoration was Jean-Louis Prévost "le Jeune" (1740-1810). The creation of such furniture therefore required the involvement of a third party to coordinate the work of the cabinetmaker and the painter, as well as the bronze and marble workers. For the Beaujon ensemble, it was his architect Étienne-Louis Boullée who took charge. As for the double-stamped chiffonier and the Mentmore cabinets, we can assume that the fashion launched by Beaujon was taken up by the discerning cabinetmaker and merchant Jean-Baptiste II Tuart or by Cosson, as is the case for our chest of drawers. It is highly likely that such furniture was set in panelling decorated in the same spirit, thus creating a totally homogenous décor. The architect Le Carpentier had a boudoir painted by Deleuze for the Prince de Condé in the Palais Bourbon, in faux rosewood and porcelain tiles painted with a thousand bouquets of flowers in imitation of Sèvres porcelain: in one of the side panels, a secretary also painted in imitation of the tiles blended in perfectly with the decor. Also in the 1770s, in Paris, on rue de Varenne, the Countess d'Orsay had a boudoir painted by Hugues Taraval in the brand-new arabesque style, with a niche housing a writing desk, also decorated with painted arabesques. A PRESTIGIOUS PROVENANCE Our commode had a prestigious provenance; it belonged to the great antique dealer Arnold Seligmann, and it was in one of the sumptuous salons of his private mansion on Place Vendôme that our commode was illustrated in the mid-1920s (see La Renaissance de l'Art Français et des Industries de luxe, June 1926, p. 356-359), where it is said to have been made for Madame Du Barry. The commode was probably acquired directly from Arnold Seligmann by the Belgian collector Alfred Loewenstein. Between 1919 and 1920, he commissioned the Belgian architect Armand Sigwalt to build the Hôtel Loewenstein, his private mansion at 35, rue de la Science in Brussels, to house his rich art collection. Before his tragic death in 1928, this businessman was the third richest man in the world, just behind Henry Ford and John Rockefeller, and it is through his direct descendants that this chest of drawers has survived to the present day. *Information for buyers: If you are leaving the EU, you may need to obtain a CITES re-export certificate, which is the responsibility of the future buyer. Restrictions may apply depending on the country of destination. *Information to the buyers : For an exit from the EU, a CITES re-export certificate will be necessary, at the buyer's expense. Restrictions can apply depending on the country of destination.