A GEORGE III ORMOLU-MOUNTED SCARLET, GILT AND POLYCHROME-JAPANNED COMMODE

This exotically japanned and French-inspired commode relates closely to the oeuvre of French emigré cabinet-maker Pierre Langlois (d. 1765) of Tottenham Court Road. Langlois was a specialist in the use of Chinese lacquer and japanning, and was no doubt inspired by the taste for lacquer furniture promoted by the marchands merciers of Paris who commissioned such pieces from the most innovative cabinet-makers of the day such as BVRB and Jacques Dubois. Tthe angle mounts on this commode are directly based on models employed by the Parisian cabinet-maker Joseph Baumhauer in the 1760s, and also feature on a number of distinguished English commodes in this period, notably a pair of commodes with panels of Chinese lacquer, attributed to Langlois and supplied to Ashburnham Place (sold Christie’s, London, 4 June 2009, lot 90, £505,250).