WALNUT AND OAK “PROVENZAL” LOUIS XV WARDROBE. FRANCE, 18TH CENTURY.
Antiques - Furniture
Reference: Z4846
Walnut and oak wardrobe. Rococo, France, 18th century. Two-door wardrobe with a lower drawer with two circular handles inside a concave disk, placed on two vase-shaped front legs and two square legs at the back and finished at the top by a thin projecting moulding. The drawer and one of the doors close with a key, but do not have a lock escutcheon. Although the absence of gilt bronze applications could indicate that it is not of French origin, this is one of the so-called “Provençal” pieces of furniture. These are characteristic of that area, although not exclusive to it, and are characterised by a lack of richness in their materials and a greater simplicity in decoration compared to contemporary French furniture from, for example, Paris. It is worth highlighting the use of two different woods for technical reasons but also and above all to highlight the carvings and mouldings. The upper part has a splined capital framed by a straight moulding below and with marked straight lines, curves and counter-curves at the top. These lines, together with volutes, are repeated symmetrically but in very marked mouldings cutting the door panels into three parts, the central one being wider. The lower area leaves the drawer between a band with two flowers and an oval above and a symmetrical floral and plant motif below, which accompanies the curves of the lower skirt of the cupboard. These curved lines highlighted with the adjacent counter-curves are reminiscent of those that describe rocailles, and show that the piece of furniture belongs to the Rococo style. In France, this style is also known as Louis XV style, after the monarch under whose reign it reached its peak. This artistic movement developed there between approximately 1730 and 1760, and was still very influential throughout Europe after that time. Note the differences between Provençal furniture, such as this one, and courtly Rococo examples such as the designs of Juste-Aurèle Meissonier or the works of Jean-Pierre Latz, for example. Cabinets similar to the present one are preserved in the Hospice Pailloux-Haumonté (Burgundy), in the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in Paris (inventory 13058), etc.
· Size: 150x52x234 cms.
2.500 €
