Regency commode by François LIEUTAUD

Restauration d’une Commode d’époque Louis XIV en bois de palissandre et de noyer alternés marquetés en frisages et filets, la façade légèrement bombée ouvrant par trois larges tiroirs sur trois rangs, le plateau, cerclé d’une lingotière de laiton, à décor géométrique de cercles encadrant un décor central polylobé à motifs figurés, les montants et traverses intermédiaires foncés de cannelures en laiton poli, les côtés en placage de noyer à motifs de frisages en diamant, les pieds profilés à becquets.

Le meuble est paré d’une ornementation de bronzes ciselés et dorés de grande qualité : entrées de serrures au masque d’Apollon enrubanné (symbole du Roi Soleil, modèle de François Lieutaud et de Nicolas Sageot), poignées de tirage à plaquettes ajourées de palmettes, mascarons de vieillards barbus (ou atlantes), sabots à palmettes et rinceaux d’acanthe, cul-de-lampe à coquille sur culot flanqué d’acanthes crispées au tablier. 

François LIEUTAUD (1665 – 1748)

A cabinetmaker originally from Marseille, he received his master's certificate in Paris at the end of the 17th century and was active during the reign of Louis XIV and the Regency. He worked within the privileged confines of the Saint-Jean-de-Latran cloister, and Louis XIV granted him the rare privilege of creating and crafting the bronze mounts for his furniture. He collaborated with Noël Gérard (who was also a mercer), as well as with Charles Cressent and even André-Charles Boulle (who appointed him as his personal expert during a trial in 1719). He founded a dynasty of cabinetmakers, as his son Charles and his grandson Balthazar (famous for his regulator clocks) practiced the same craft. Long unknown to art historians due to his stamp bearing only the initials "FL," he is nevertheless considered one of the greatest cabinetmakers of his time.

Bibliography

• French Cabinetmakers from Louis XIV to the Revolution – Editions du Chêne – 1989 – Alexandre Pradere