Commode

1783

Jean-Henri Riesener French, 1734-1806

On View

Fashionable Living: Kanzler Room, Level 3, South Wing

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About the Artwork

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Markings

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Provenance

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

This chest of drawers (commode) is one of four that were in the apartment of Madame Elisabeth, the younger sister of King Louis XVI at Fontainebleau. As the official cabinetmaker to Louis XVI from 1774 to 1785, Jean-Henri Riesener supplied the French crown with hundreds of pieces of case furniture—commodes, roll-top desks, secretaries, gaming tables, and other types—ranging from the plain and utilitarian to objects of extreme richness, and all in a refined neoclassical style.

Title Commode

Artwork Date 1783

Artist Jean-Henri Riesener

Life Dates 1734-1806

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. ----------

Medium Mahogany with parquetry inlay and ormolu fittings

Dimensions Overall: 36 5/8 × 57 × 23 7/8 inches (93 × 144.8 × 60.6 cm) Overall (commode): 35 1/4 × 57 × 23 1/2 inches (89.5 × 144.8 × 59.7 cm) Overall (marble top): 1 1/4 × 57 × 23 7/8 inches (3.2 × 144.8 × 60.6 cm)

Classification Furniture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Bequest of Mrs. Horace E. Dodge in memory of her husband

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 71.194

Markings

Marks Stamps, under marble and on front stiles: J. H. Riesener Stenciled in black paint on the back: the letter F surmounted by a crown; and No 35 over the number 3. On the top of the carcass appear the following: the letter E stenciled in black paint near the right edge; a nearby painted letter E; the number 191 or 161 in a black wax crayon; the letter L in red wax crayon; a faint No 3 near the front; and the incised mark 3 1 X. Inside the central frieze drawer are two Duveen Brothers labels, one inscribed in ink: 27569, a Duveen inventory number; the other inscribed in pencil at the top: Ex Garde Meuble Fontainebleau; and typed below this in blue the following: 27569/An Old French 18th century ormolu mounted commode of the Louis XVI period inlaid with parqueterie. Stamped on the top "J. H. Riesener". From the Garde Meuble, Fontainebleau, and the Collection of Edward Arnold, The Grove, Dorking, England. The modern gilt-bronze apron mount is engraved on its back: Copy from Frick 19.5.76 Paris, 1993 Peyruseigt.

Provenance

1783-1786,Madame Elisabeth de France (Château de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau, France);
1786-1792, Louis XVI (Château de Fontainebleau, Fontainebleau, France);
1792, Garde-Meuble National (Paris, France);
Edward Arnold (The Grove, Dorking, Surrey, England);
June 8, 1920, sold by (Christie's, London, England) Edward Arnold sale, lot 90;
(Duveen Brothers, New York New York, USA);
1932, acquired by Anna Thomson Dodge (Grosse Pointe, Michigan, USA);
1971-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

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Published References

Edward Arnold Collection. Sales cat. London, June 8, 1920, lot 20.

Clouzot, Henri. Des Tuileries à Saint-Cloud: L'Art Décoratif du Second Empire. Paris, 1925, (pl. XX).

A Catalogue of Works of Art in the Collection of Anna Thomson Dodge. Detroit, 1933, [unpaginated].

A Catalogue of Works of Art in the Collection of Anna Thomson Dodge, 2 vols. Detroit, 1939, [unpaginated].

Verlet, Pierre. Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. 2. Paris, 1955, pp. 87-90, no. 15, (pl. XV).

Jours de France. June 30, 1970, p. 104.

Winokur, Ronald L. "The Mr. and Mrs. Horace E. Dodge Memorial Collection." Bulletin of the DIA 50, no. 3 (1971): pp. 43-51.

"La chronique des arts." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 79 (January 1972): p. 93 (fig. 327), [supplement].

Verlet, Pierre. Le Mobilier Royal Français, vol. 4. Paris, 1990, p. 100.

Dell, Theodore. The Frick Collection: An Illustrated catalogue. Vol. 6, Furniture and Gilt Bronzes, French. New York, 1992, p. 75.

Dell, T., et al. The Dodge Collection of Eighteenth-Century French and English Art at the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York and Detroit, 1996, pp. 78-82, no. 15; p. 79 (color ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Jean-Henri Riesener, Commode, 1783, mahogany with parquetry inlay and ormolu fittings. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Mrs. Horace E. Dodge in memory of her husband, 71.194.