Empire Mahogany And Ormolu Commode, Signed Of Jacques Muller, Supplier Of The Imperial Court

Empire mahogany commode / chest of drawers, topped with Bleu Turquin marble and richly mounted with fine ormolu - mercury gilt bronze - decoration, Consulate or Empire period, circa 1805. Signature of Jacques Muller.

Joseph-Adam-Guillaume Muller, admitted as a master craftsman in Paris on October 14, 1785, lived on the rue de Charonne until 1811. In that year, he supplied the Imperial Furniture Administration with several mahogany roll-top desks.

Our commode is a fine example for a connoisseur, a rare piece of work that can be definitively dated to the Empire period. The Empire style is generally understood to extend from the Consulate period (when furniture still had a structure and finishes influenced by the 18th century) to the beginning of the Restoration (Empire furniture, but with bronze mounts adopting a less martial & more floral stylistic repertoire). Our commode, however, undoubtedly belongs to the period between these two styles: pure Empire. Straight, martial forms, inspired by antiquity, but with an almost archaeological dimension.
Muller was a supplier to the Imperial Court; this commode is of excellent quality with its luxurious Bleu Turquin marble top and complicated locks (double cylinder). It is a luxury piece; the bronze mounts are very finely chased and mercury-gilded in matte and shiny finishes: they are almost certainly the work of Thomire after models by Percier and Fontaine.

Length: 128cm
Height: 90cm
Depth: 58cm