An exceptional late Louis XV ormolu mounted black and gilt lacquered commode

Description:

By Jean-Francois Leleu, Paris, circa 1765
89 x 113 x 57.5 cm
The shaped and moulded Breche d'Alep marble top above a frieze drawer, flanked and divided by cast wavescrolls, above a pair of long drawers, decorated sans travers with landscapes depicting a central bridge, on acanthus cast cabriole legs, stamped twice JME and J.F. Leleu, old transport label to the back. Rest with additions, minor losses to the lacquer decoration, the marble top restored
Ancienne collection Tamara Guilden, Auction Sotheby's New York, 27th october 2001, lot 260
Auction Sotheby's Madame Djahanguir Riahi - Les Euvres Que J'ai Aimees, Sotheby's, Paris 6 Juli 2017, Lot 116.
Exhibition:
Exhibition catalogue Musée des Arts décoratifs, Paris, 1956, p. 30, no. 137.
Jean-Francois Leleu (1729-1807), maître in 1764.
This elegant commode is a rare example of the Chinese lacquer work of the ébéniste Jean-Francois Leleu (1729-1807). With its transitional outline, the delicate lacquer panels and ormolu features à la grecque, the commode's distinctive combination of decoration and design is unique within Leleu's output, which is traditionally known for it's more austere forms and marquetry details.