Page 236 - Bonhams Cornette Saint Cyr, Property from the estate of Jean-Pierre Rousset (1936-2021)

145
COMMODE D’ÉPOQUE LOUIS XV EN
MARQUETERIE GÉOMETRIQUE DE
BOIS DE ROSE, SATINÉ ET AMARANTE,
ORNEMENTATION DE BRONZE CISELÉ ET
DORÉ, ESTAMPILLE DE JACQUES DUBOIS
Vers 1755
A LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD,
BOIS SATINE, AMARANTH AND PARQUETRY
COMMODE, JACQUES DUBOIS
Circa 1755
Overall veneered with contrasting lozenge motifs,
the shaped and moulded brèche d’Alep marble
top, with two small drawers variously shaped above
one long drawer, each with shaped reserves for
foliate handles and cartouche shaped escutcheons,
flanked by extensive pierced foliate chutes, the
sides centred by a large stylized shell foliate mount,
above splayed legs terminating in lion-headed foliate
scrolling sabots, stamped ‘I.DUBOIS’ and ‘JME’.
84cm (33in) high x 123cm (48 1/2in) wide x 58cm
(22 3/4in) deep.
€15,000 - 25,000
Jacques Dubois, maître ébéniste in 1742.

Jacques Dubois was born in 1694 from Marguerite
Montigny and Louis Dubois. His half-brother, Noël
Gérard, born before 1690 is the son of Marguerite
Montigny’ previous union with Nicolas Gérard. Noël
Gérard quickly became one of the most important
cabinetmakers and marchand-mercier in Paris,
based in the Hôtel Jabach, rue neuve Saint-Merry.
It was exactly in the workshop of his half-brother
Noël Gérard that Jacques Dubois began his career
in the 1720’s, and logically became quite influenced
by Gérard. Interestingly, Dubois did not receive
his master’s degree until much later in 1742, at
the age of 48. After the disappearance of Noël
Gérard in 1736, Jacques Dubois had to rely on
other marchands-mercier to sell his furniture until
he obtained his ‘maîtrise’. In the 1740’s, Jacques
Dubois is known to have excelled in his production
of floral marquetry, inspired by the work of Bernard
I Van Risenburgh and by that of Jean-Pierre Latz.
In addition, Jacques Dubois often incorporated
Chinese and Japanese lacquer into his repertoire,
but always paid particular attention to the ormolu
mounts which he retained an essential element.
Our commode marks an evolution in Jacques
Dubois’s oeuvre, both its shape and the parquetry
(marqueterie à cubes) are in harmony with the
Transitional style and evoke the beginning of the
goût Grec which will have a huge impact in the years
to come. It is interesting to note that on the death of
Jean-François Oeben in 1763, Jacques Dubois was
commissioned by the heirs of Oeben as an expert to
value the remaining content of Oeben’s workshop.
We find the same type of cube parquetry on certain
(detail of Dubois stamp) pieces of furniture by Jean-François Oeben, with
whom he probably collaborated.
While this shaped parquetry commode is quite
atypical in the oeuvre of Jacques Dubois, we can
observe the interesting contrast between the finely
presented ormolu mounts backed with by similarly
shaped contrasting veneered cartouches, and the
amusing arrangement of the drawers, where the
top drawer is divided in one third-two third sections
while the lower one is a single drawer,
creating surprise.
234 | BONHAMS