Mazarine chest of drawers opening with two drawers... Lot 44

Mazarine chest of drawers opening with two drawers on two rows separated by a crossbar and resting on four cambered legs ending in claws and two straight legs ending in snail feet. It presents a marquetry in the first part of brass on a background of brown tortoiseshell, decorated with scrolls, tendrils and scrolls. Rich ornamentation in chased and gilded bronze such as falls with winged sphinxes, clawed sabots, snails, draw handles and keyways, acanthus leaves, moldings and friezes of quartefoils. Signed Blake London inside a winged sphinx in gilt bronze. Campan mixed marble top with a corbin beak and a reversed cavet. Louis XIV style, after the model of André-Charles Boulle, circa 1850. (Small lacks in the marquetry, tiny re-corking in the marble). H. 88 cm. - L. : 121 cm. - D. : 61 cm. This splendid chest of drawers is a 19th century copy of the pair made by André-Charles Boulle and supplied in 1708 for the bedroom of Louis XIV at the Trianon Palace, now the Grand Trianon in Versailles. One of the most famous models in the history of French furniture, Boulle's Trianon commodes are a testament to the skill of Louis XIV's cabinetmaker. Inspired by Roman sarcophagi, this piece of furniture combines the table with the chest of drawers and constitutes the prototype of the chest of drawers as we know it throughout the 18th century. Other examples dating from the 18th century of this iconic model are listed, including one that entered the collection of the Dukes of Hamilton at Hamilton Palace, after being acquired by William Beckford at Fonthill (now in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, Inv. 1982.60.82). The BLAKE dynasty Although relatively little is known about the Blake family of furniture makers, they are documented as makers of fine "buhl" furniture from 1826 when Robert Blake is registered as a 'Cabinet Maker and Buhl Maker' at 8 Stephen Street, London. Over the next few decades, Robert's sons George, Charles, James and Henry became associated with the business and his workshop moved to various locations in London as his business diversified and transformed, with various name changes along the way. Among the few signed pieces are an octagonal inlaid table signed "Robert Blake" in the Victoria Albert Museum in London, as well as an inlaid piano signed by George Henry Blake in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and a small flat desk inlaid with flowers (Sold at New York, Sotheby's, April 19, 2007, lot 122). The model remained enduringly popular throughout the 19th century, with later examples made only by the most skilled Parisian cabinetmakers, including Henry Dasson, Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener, and François Linke. Bibliography: - C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, Leeds, 1996, p.18. Specimen made with pre-convention marine turtle shell spp (Cheloniidae spp) (I/A-CE). Specimen prior to June 1, 1947, therefore in conformity with the EC Rule 338/97 of 09/12/1996 art.2-W mc, in conformity with the French Code of the Environment (prior to the application of the AM relating to the protection of marine turtles). For an exit of the EU a CITES of re-export will be necessary, this one being in charge of the future purchaser. (A wooden case).