Lot 34: Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis Beurdeley 1847-1919 commode paris, circa 1880

amaranth, sycamore, satinwood, kingwood bandings with ebony and fruitwood stringings, the molded Rouge de France marble top above a long frieze drawer and another two drawers sans traverse, the side with a fl eur de lys pattern marquetry, the carcass stamped twice BEURDELEY / PARIS.

measurements height 34 in.; width 36 in.; 19 3/4 in. alternate measurements 86 cm; 91 cm; 50 cm

Pradère, Alexandre, French Furniture Makers, Philip Wilson Publishers, London, 1989, p. 340 for an illustration of the original model.

The present commode is strongly based on the original pair made by Jean-François Leleu (1729-1807), reçu maître en 1764, delivered on May 1, 1773 for the bedchamber of the Duchesse de Bourbon in Paris. In Leleu's accounts for the Palais Bourbon in 1772 and 1773, it is stated "the said commodes veneered, the friezes with amaranth, black and white stringing, the side panels in mosaic of shaded fleurs-de-lys; the front in blue wood: in the center are two lozenges with toothed mouldings and fleur de lys motif, all shaded." It is interesting to note that the central lozenge, originally veneered with a fleur-de-lys, a motif particularly associated with the French monarchy, was removed during the French Revolution in (1789-1799). The commode is now in the permanent collection of the Musée de Versailles (inv. P. T. 6417).