Roger Vandercruse dit Lacroix (1727 - 1799, Maître 1755) - Commode France, Transition Period, 1770 approx. 90 x 60 x 135 cm In rosewood, amaranth and various fruit woods. Double drawer without cross-piece and three upper half-drawers under the top. The two drawers are treated as a single decorative unit with the allegory of music and medallions with amphorae, at the sides geometric 'labyrinth' designs with overlying plant volutes. Upper band with three small drawers decorated with inlays of geometric motifs. Handles and spouts in gilded bronze finely chiselled with plant festoons and band in gilded bronze chiselled with laurel leaf motifs. Resting on arched feet with finely chased gilded bronze trim. Upper surface Breccia di Aleppo. Stamping "R.V.L.C." on the rear right-hand upright.Roger Vandercruse Lacroix, of Flemish origin, Maître in 1755, was among the most renowned cabinet-makers of his time, influencing and contributing to the evolution of furniture towards neoclassicism. His clients included Madame du Barry, Victoria of Bourbon-France (Madame Victoire), Queen Marie Antoinette of Habsburg-Lorraine and Louis XVI of France. Furniture of his creation is kept at the Château de Versailles.Provenance: Galleria Piero Betti, Via del Babuino, Rome, (1991); bought there by the present owner. Reference bibliography: P. Kjellberg, Le mobilier français du XVIIIeme siécle, Paris, 2002, p. 791, fig. p. 798 - a;C. Roinet, Perrin & Fils Antiquaires, Roger Vandercruse dit La Croix, Paris, 2000, p. 70 , fig. 26.