Etienne Doirat - Regency Chest Of Drawers With Central Steps – Louis XV Period

Etienne DOIRAT - Regency Chest of Drawers with Central Projection - Louis XV Period

Very beautiful chest of drawers with central projection in diamond-shaped marquetry in violet wood.
It opens with four drawers on three rows separated by crosspieces.
The uprights are straight.
It rests on four slightly curved feet.
Important and very beautiful gilt bronze ornamentation such as the corner falls depicting a female bust in a sheath framed by pearls and foliage, keyholes, pull handles, fluting of the crosspieces, cartouche and sabots.
Its parquet floor is topped with a beautiful breccia marble.
This chest of drawers dates from the beginning of the Louis XV period,
Attributed to Etienne Doirat.

H. 86.5 cm x W. 131 cm x D. 60 cm

This piece of furniture has been revised by our cabinetmaker Serge CHAILLOU, "Meilleur Ouvrier de France", and authorized by the National Museums.


Etienne Doirat (1675-1732) - cabinetmaker.

One of the few great cabinetmakers of the Regency period.
His furniture was frequently made of amaranth or violet wood, veneered in leaves or inlaid with grid patterns.
Born into a family of artisans—faience makers and carpenters—established since the early years of the 17th century in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Etienne Doirat was the son of mason Joseph Doirat and Michelle Ferlu, sister of Pierre-Isaac Ferlu, master merchant-cabinetmaker. His younger brother, Pierre-Michel, would follow in his footsteps as a master cabinetmaker.
He earned his master's degrees in the early years of the 18th century.
He worked all his life on the rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine for a wealthy French and foreign clientele.
Often of sublime character, his furniture belongs mainly to the Regency style.
Chests of drawers constitute the bulk of his production. An inventory drawn up on July 14, 1732, mentions a large number of them, "in tombs" or "in the Regency" but also notes some large bookcases, wardrobes, secretaries, regulators and various models of gaming or living room tables.
These pieces of furniture are frequently made of amaranth or violet wood, veneered in leaves or inlaid with grids.

Doirat made extensive use of bronzes and of fine quality - made by collaborators who were founders and chasers - where traditional elements such as the mascarons of the time of Louis XIV respond to the busts of women or "espagnolettes" of the Regency or to the various motifs in a typically Rocaille style.
He sometimes adorned the front of his chests of drawers without crosspieces with a large bronze cartouche that his successors later largely adopted. In this field,
Doirat revealed himself to be one of the great creators of decorative formulas and techniques - glories of Parisian cabinetmaking during the reign of Louis XV.
MUSEUMS
· Chest of drawers - Petit Palais
· Chest of drawers - J. Paul Getty Museum
· Chest of drawers - Cleveland Museum of Art
· BIBLIOGRAPHY
· 18th Century French Furniture - Pierre Kjellberg - Les Editions de l'Amateur - 1989
· 18th Century Cabinetmakers - Comte François de Salverte - Les éditions d'Art et d'Histoire - 1934