Chest of Drawers (commode)

probably between 1767 and 1772 but possibly a decade earlier

Joseph Baumhauer

Associated Names
Joseph Baumhauer

Cabinetmaker, German, active c. 1749 - 1772

This is a photograph of a Rococo-style commode. It features curvaceous lines, lavish gold embellishments, intricate marquetry, a marble top, floral patterns, gilded ormolu mounts, and cabriole legs. The design showcases meticulous decorative detail, typical of 18th-century French furniture design.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oak veneered with tulipwood, kingwood, casuarina, and purplewood; gilded bronze mounts; breccia marble top

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 85.5 x 131.7 x 60.4 cm (33 11/16 x 51 7/8 x 23 3/4 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.411

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dukes of Leeds, Hornby Castle, Yorkshire, by at least 1800;[1] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 28 June 1901, no. 100); Charles J. Wertheimer [1842-1911], London;[2] acquired 15 May 1909 by Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] The 1901 sale catalogue mentions that this object and NGA 1942.9.412 were listed as a pair in an 1800 inventory of Hornby Castle.
[2] This chest of drawers was sold with NGA 1942.9.412. The two were purchased for 15,000 guineas, a price that stood as a record for French furniture sold at public auction for over half a century.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1973

  • François Boucher in North American Collections: One Hundred Drawings, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Art Institute of Chicago, 1973-1974, not in catalogue or brochure (shown only in Washington).

1975

  • The European Vision of America, National Gallery of Art, Washington , D.C., 1975-1976, not in cat., not shown at venues in Cleveland and Paris.

1994

  • Fanciful Flourishes: Ornament in European Graphic Art and Related Objects, 1300-1800, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994, brochure, no. 55.

Bibliography

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 18.

Inscriptions

stamped on top of the carcase five times (once above the proper right foreleg, twice above the proper left foreleg, and twice in the proper left rear corner): JOSEPH [between two fleurs-de-lys]; painted in black on top rail of the carcase at back: 2

Wikidata ID

Q62758228

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