18th Century French Walnut Serpentine Commode
You must be a subscriber, and be logged in to view price and dealer details.
Subscribe Now to view actual auction price for this item
When you subscribe, you have the option of setting the currency in which to display prices to $Au, $US, $NZ or Stg.
- Commode - The word "commode" when used to describe an item of furniture, has three usuages:
1. As used to describe an item of English furniture, it refers to what is euphemistically called a 'night table', that is a small cabinet concealing a chamber pot.
2. In its 18th century French usuage it describes a low and highly decorated chest of drawers for salons and reception rooms. A bombe commode is a commode with rounded sides and front, giving the chest a somewhat swollen look.
3. It is also used to denote a half round or serpentine shaped cabinet, with panelled doors, standing on legs. They were pieces on which the cabinetmaker lavished his most accomplished art, with rich veneers, marquetry inlays, gilt mounts and other ornamentation. - Fruitwood - A catch-all term used to describe the wood of any of several fruit-bearing trees, such as the apple, cherry, or pear, used especially in cabinetmaking.
With a blond colour when finished, fruitwood was used in Europe, especially France, in the 18th and 19th centuries for larger items of furniture such as tables, chairs, cabinets and bookcases but in England its use was generally restricted to decorative elements such as inlays. - Serpentine - Resembling a serpent, in the form of an elongated 'S'. A serpentine front is similar to a bow front, except that the curve is shallow at each end, swelling towards the middle. The term presumably derives from its similarity to a moving snake or serpent. Serpentine fronts are usually veneered, with the carcase either being cut and shaped from a solid piece of timber, or built in the 'brick' method.
This item has been included into following indexes:
Visually similar items
An early 19th century walnut chest of drawers, two half-drawers over three full drawers, raised on a plinth base with shaped apron, inlaid ebony stringing, with later brass handles and keyhole escutcheons. Requires minor attention. 114.5 cm x 58 cm x 106 c
A Louis XV carved oak three drawer commode with bronze handles, French 18th century, 94 cm high, 129 cm wide, 60 cm deep
A Georgian mahogany chest of drawers, 18th century, with a thumbnail edge top above two small and three long drawers of graduating depth, with cockbeading, decorative brass butterfly and lattice backplates and escutcheons with swing handles, the extended b
A late Georgian mahogany chest of drawers, circa 1830s, having an extended top above two half drawers and three full width drawers below of graduating depth, each cockbeaded and oak lined with brass swing handles, the chest with reeded edges and raised on