Commode by Charles Cressent made for Louis XV’s bedroom at the Château de la Muette, €1.45m (£1.26m) at SGL enchères.
The 4ft 11in (1.5m) wide marble topped geometrically veneered commode overlain with elaborate gilt bronze scrolling mounts was commissioned from the ébéniste Charles Cressent by Louis XV.
It later entered the collections of the Count de Gramont and remained there until 1934 when it was acquired by the family of the vendors at this auction.
Discovered in a Paris apartment during the course of an inventory, the commode has an ink number to the back referring to its description in the journal of the Garde Meuble de la Couronne (the royal furniture repository).
It records that on August 4, 1738, it was delivered by the Royal cabinetmaker Antoine Robert Gaudreaus for the king’s new bedroom at the Château de la Muette, a former hunting lodge next to the Bois de Boulogne that was converted into a château by the Duchesse de Berry and later donated to Louis XV.
In this instance Gaudreaus, who worked for the Garde Meuble from 1726-46, probably called upon Cressent to fulfil a specific commission.
Estimated at €500,000-700,000 at the saleroom in Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris, it was hammered down at €1.45m (£1.26m).
