"Louis XVI Style Commode 'jf Leleu' Collection From The Palace Of Versailles"
Chest of drawers in a slightly curved rectangular shape with curved sides in rosewood veneer in frieze in amaranth frames, resting on four baluster feet decorated with simulated grooves. It opens with a frieze drawer and two drawers without crosspieces flanked by fluted uprights adorned at the top with bronze scraps decorated with acanthus and oak leaves. This chest of drawers is of exceptional quality; The bronzes present are very finely chiseled and gilded. There are openwork friezes of ivy branches and vine branches, frames of water leaves, drooping rings of prints, molded and fluted ingot molds and leafy clogs. The sides of the drawers are edged with mahogany moldings visible when opened, the feet are in solid amaranth, the uprights are in solid mahogany and the very thick marble is a magnificent breach. The chest of drawers is based on the famous 18th century model by Jean-François Leleu (1729-1807) kept at the Petit Trianon in Versailles where it was exhibited in 1867 following an exhibition organized at the request of Empress Eugénie in memory of Marie Antoinette. Period late nineteenth century.