LATE LOUIS XV ORMOLU-MOUNTED JAPANESE LACQUER AND EBONY COMMODE BY CLAUDE-CHARLES SAUNIER, c1765, THE JAPANESE LACQUER 17TH CENTURY
This Louis XV commode, almost certainly supplied to the duchesse de Mazarin for the château de Chilly-Mazarin, made $819,000 at Christie’s in New York. It was the top lot at the L’Art du Luxe: Masterpieces of French Furniture sales which realised $9.7 million. Other leading results included a Louis XV ormolu-mounted bois satine and Chinese lacquer bureau plat by Joseph Baumhauer, one of only two of its type known to exist, which made $604,800; a late Louis XV ormolu-mounted amaranth, tulipwood and parquetry commode supplied to the court banker Micault d’Harvelay in 1774, which made $693,000 and a rare pair of late Louis XV consoles which made $415,000. Bids came from around the globe including Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East, and almost 10 percent of bidders and buyers were new to the category.