Louis XV Commode, Stamped I. Dubois, 18th Century

A Louis XV commode, curved on all sides, veneered with marquetry lozenges within cartouches adorned with clasps on three sides, stamped I. DUBOIS. It opens in the front with two drawers without a central divider. Very rich gilt bronze ornamentation adorns the uprights, keyhole escutcheons, and drawer pulls. It rests on cabriole legs fitted with gilt bronze sabots. The top is red marble veined with gray, with a corbel molding all around. Parisian work. Jacques Dubois (1693-1763) - cabinetmaker - Received Master status on September 5, 1742. Dubois was a great master who refused to confine himself to a single style and who adapted his flexible and varied talent to all aspects of furniture that could represent the beauty and nobility of line. Jacques Dubois, born in Pontoise around 1693, was one of the greatest Parisian cabinetmakers during the reign of Louis XV. Having worked for many years as a journeyman in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, he obtained his Master status in 1742 at the age of forty-nine and pursued a brilliant career for nearly twenty years on the rue de Charenton. As Cabinetmaker to the King, he worked for the high nobility. The Dubois stamp guaranteed high-end furniture, highly prized both in France and abroad. He produced a large number of remarkable works, and his distinctive expertise constituted the "Dubois style," closely related to the Rococo style. He made abundant use of intricately carved and irregular bronze mounts for the ornamentation and framing of commodes, corner cabinets, and desks veneered in amaranth, rosewood, violet wood, satinwood, and other woods. One of his great specialties was the use of European varnish in the Far Eastern style, as well as Chinese lacquer panels on black and red backgrounds. All his creations, of great richness and extraordinary imagination, were generally large to medium in size, and commodes, flat desks, and slant-front desks were his preferred pieces. In 1752, he became a sworn member of the Cabinetmakers' Guild, whose role was to judge the quality of the furniture produced by his colleagues. In 1763, he was tasked with assessing the estate of Jean François Oeben. And after his own death a few months later, an inventory of his work was drawn up to evaluate its influence on the development of the Louis XV style. His workshop on rue de Charenton was taken over by his son René in 1763, who continued his father's work for another twenty years, also enjoying a glowing reputation.