Later Boulle

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The first years of the eighteenth century saw a transformation in the shape of the French commode. Around 1723, the great pioneer André-Charles Boulle is still active, but he is 80 years old and it is no longer possible to separate his work from that of his four sons.

Koller will sell in Zurich on June 18 a "commode en bureau" (this French wording is used in all the languages of the web site of the auction house).

This chest of two drawers on a single row is more elegant than a Louis XIV commode, but it does not meet the subsequent Régence and Louis XV styles. The feet are high, but too large to be compared to a commode sauteuse. The drawers are too high for a bureau Régence.

Do not look further, it is a Boulle furniture, and that's it! And it is beautiful: the gilded bronze decoration of bearded satyr figures is splendid. It measures 151x65x89 cm, and is estimated KCHF 700.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Very good result, 820 KCHF before fees. It is encouraging, after all the unsold lots that were recorded in the market for ancient furniture. The exceptional pieces still have buyers, and the estimate had been well targeted. Congratulations to the auction house.