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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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RICHARD REDDING ANTIQUES |
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An extremely fine late Louis XV gilt bronze mounted marquetry bois de rose, amaranth and stained wood commode by Louis Noël Malle, stamped L. N. MALLE, the serpentine shaped moulded marron marble top above two drawers each with an urn-shaped escutcheon and ring handles, the slight bombé front with inner rectangular border, decorated with quivers above musical trophies and foliate garlands within a scrolled cartouche frame, flanked either side by shaped frames each enclosing an urn on a pedestal, the sides decorated with flower-filled urns within a shaped frame and outer rectangular border, the shaped apron centred by a foliate and sheaf mount, the hipped cabriole angles with ram’s head and scrolled mounts continuing down the cabriole legs terminating in foliate scrolled sabots Paris, date circa 1765-70 Height 88 cm, width 126 cm, width 64.5 cm. Working in the heart of the Parisian artisan centre, Louis Noël Malle (1734-1782) was established at rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine, where he had an important workshop alongside a furniture showroom, which was run by his wife. Received as a maître-ébéniste in 1765, Malle tended to specialise in the production of commodes and to a lesser extent secrétaires, tables and cabinets, firstly in the late Louis XV, then in the Transition and finally in the true Louis XVI style. As here, his work was extremely decorative, of a very high quality and diverse style. Malle experimented with a variety of decorative techniques and materials, as listed in “L’Almanach général des marchands précise”, 1772 which noted that he used ebony, olive and other coloured woods as well as oyster-shell and mother-of-pearl. A number of his pieces were decorated with floral veneers, flower-filled vases, urns and musical trophies. Other equally fine pieces featured parquetry decoration, sometimes in combination with an inlaid floral cartouche; at other times he ornamented pieces with objects and utensils, similar to those by Charles Topino (maître 1773). One of Malle’s specialities was the creation a romantic landscape with water and ruined buildings. The Frick Collection, New York owns one of his Transition period commodes featuring a landscape and ruins, created out of coloured woods and ivory inlays. The Frick also owns an attributed Malle table bureau, decorated with river and landscape views within a geometric frame à la Grec. Like the Frick, the Musée de Carnavalet in Paris houses one of his Transition period commodes inlaid with flowers and musical trophies. Toward the end of his career, Malle worked in the full blown Louis XVI style, creating a number of more diverse objects, from games tables, bureaux and cabinets such as a vitrine, adapted from an older secrétaire, now housed at the Musée de Lambinet at Versailles. After his death on 27th February 1782, Malle’s wife assumed control of his workshop, which remained active up until the Revolution. |