A very fine and unusual commode table in mahogany with gilded bronze ornamentation and an inset white Carrara marble top. This eccentric piece from the late 1830s exemplifies the best of the end of the traditional timeline of period furniture (1500-1840). The quality of the execution of the previous decade is retained, but the work demonstrates the high eclecticism and stylistic experimentation more associated with the period after 1840.

The finely chased and gilded bronze decor is not neoclassical in design, with the Roman palmettes and scrolls one might expect on certain Jacob pieces of the same variety from the 1820s. Here, it is rather neo-baroque or neo-Louis XIV in inspiration, revealing an attempt to create something new.

The doors reveal three English drawers finished in lighter maple which create a striking contrast with the exterior. Another touch of “modernity” relative to commodes of this quality from previous decades, is the special hinges which here allow the doors to swing open farther than usual.

Myers & Monroe, LLC