Commode
attributed to Pierre Eloy Langlois (1738 - 1805)
Category
Furniture
Date
circa 1765
Materials
Pine carcass, oak drawers, lacquer, japanned decoration and gilt bronze mounts
Measurements
94 x 141.5 x 69 cm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Polesden Lacey, Surrey
NT 1245863
Summary
A lacquer commode, circa 1765, English, attributed to Pierre Langlois (fl.1759-1781), veneered with panels of Chinese export black and gold lacquer, bordered with japanned foliate trails, with a serpentine shaped top divided into six panels, within a gilt bronze border, above a pair of doors enclosing a black japanned interior fitted with eight drawers. The bombé front and sides veneered with lacquer panels with gilt bronze beaded borders and depicting pagodas in gardens in typical landscape with rocks, mountains and trees, the angles mounted with a gilt-bronze pierced acanthus leaves and floral garlands, the feet with gilt bronze foliate scrolls.
Full description
This commode was originally at Ragley Hall in Arrow, Warwickshire, the principal seat of the Marquesses of Hertford. It was sold by Christie's on 30 June 1921 (Lot 24) [1] and purchased by the antique dealer Frank Partridge. The commode was offered with a reserve of £400 which was not met during the sale. Partridge eventually purchased it, together with Lot 26, a pair of lacquer commodes, for £1350 after the sale. Lacquer screens and cabinets were introduced by the East India Trading Companies in the late 17th Century but the technique of applying lacquer panels onto a serpentine shaped commode seems to have been introduced to London in the early 1760s and is attributed to Pierre Langlois, a cabinet-maker reputably of French origin whose workshop was on Tottenham Court Road. Although a large proportion of Langlois' production is associated with marquetry, several Chinese lacquer commodes are attributed to him. A pair of similar commodes with a comparable top divided into sections is at Uppark (NT 137649.1-2); these commodes are notable in having gilded mounts partly executed in wood rather than metal. Another comparable lacquer commode, from a pair, can be seen in the Legion of Honor museum (San Francisco) and was commissioned from Langlois by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) for the Gallery at Strawberry Hill House. Almost identical to the latter, with a marble top and ormolu mounts, are the pair of commodes at Powis Castle (NT 1181049.1-2). Footnotes: [1] Information supplied by Christopher Coles, July 2023.
Provenance
Originally at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire and sold Christie's (30 June 1921, Lot 24). Date of acquisition not recorded, but probably originally at 16 Charles Street, Mayfair, Mrs Greville's London home, and bequeathed by Margaret McEwan, The Hon. Mrs Ronald Greville (1863-1942) with Polesden Lacey, to the National Trust, in memory of her father, William McEwan (1827-1913) in 1942. This item found on the probate inventory record for Charles Street chattels at Polesden Lacey, found in the Dining Room, page 9.
Makers and roles
attributed to Pierre Eloy Langlois (1738 - 1805), cabinetmaker