Commode

Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix

ca. 1755–60 · Oak veneered with tulip-, rose-, and end cut kingwood, gilt bronze, rouge griotte marble · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This small two-drawer sommode, made about 1755–60, appears to be an early work of Roger Vandercruse Lacroix. The two drawers are treated as a single decorative unit with continuous floral marquetry of endcut kingwood framed by scrolled and foliated mounts. Few pieces of furniture by Lacroix in the Louis XV style are known, and the present example belongs to no established group of his furniture. The mounts were used in varing combinations on commodes by a number of contemporary cabinetmakers—e.g., Charles Chevallier le jeune (maître before 1738–1771), Pierre Macret (1727–1796), Nicolas Petit (1732–1791), Adrien Faizelot Delorme (maître 1748, retired 1783), and Matthieu Criaerd (1689–1776)—and were probably commercially available in Paris in the 1750s. [Bill Rieder, 1984]

Artist

Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix

Date

ca. 1755–60

Medium

Oak veneered with tulip-, rose-, and end cut kingwood, gilt bronze, rouge griotte marble

Culture

French, Paris

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982