The rectangular black and grey mottled top above a moulded border over two cross-banded doors inlaid with stringing and an inner border with concave corners ornamented with rosettes, the doors divided by 'espagnolette' mask suspending a foliate trail, flanked by Louis XIV escutcheons decorated with paired cockerel heads, the angles with pierced strapwork and scroll mounts, opening to reveal three mahogany drawers with moulded fronts and drop-handles, on tapering square feet headed by dentil moulded collars and terminating in caps, the mounts stamped with spurious 'C’ couronné poinçon
36 in. (91.5 cm.) high; 51 in. (129.5 cm.) wide; 25¹⁄₂ in. (65 cm.) deep

The Collection of M. Hubert de Givenchy, hôtel d'Orrouer, Paris, in the salle à manger,
until sold,
his sale; Christie's, Monaco, 4 December 1993, lot 66.

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Lot Essay

André-Charles Boulle made frequent use of this model of angle mount in his oeuvre. They appear on the series of bibliotheques basses, of which six are in the Louvre (D. Alcouffe, A. Dion-Tenenbaum and A. Lefébure, Furniture Collections in the Louvre, Dijon, 1993, nos. 28 & 29, pp. 98-100), as well as on the group of armoires basses mounted with figures of Aspasia and Philosophy. The celebrated pair of armoires from Fonthill and Hamilton Palace in the Louvre, which correspond to a drawing attributed to Boulle in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, also has these angles as well as similar (though not identical) masks suspending oak foliage (ibid., no. 21, pp. 84-86). On all these examples the angle mount is used vertically rather than horizontally, as on the Givenchy commode. The lockplate is also a standard Boulle model.