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Preview image of work. oak and poplar; tulipwood and amaranth veneers; ormolu mounts; marble top,  Commode 20845
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1948.25.a &.b

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Commode

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Artist

Joseph Baumhauer (Germany, 1772)

Title

Commode

Creation Date

1740-1760

Century

18th century

Dimensions

33 1/16 in. x 55 1/8 in. x 24 in. (84 cm. x 140 cm. x 61 cm.)

Object Type

furniture

Creation Place

Europe, France

Medium and Support

oak and poplar; tulipwood and amaranth veneers; ormolu mounts; marble top

Credit Line

Gift of Miss Susan Dwight Bliss

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1948.25.a &.b

Born in Germany, Baumhauer moved to Paris in the 1740s. At the time French craftsmen opposed immigrants as possible competitors in their market. His marriage to the daughter of a French cabinetmaker undoubtedly helped advance his career and he excelled in his new home. Around 1749 Baumhauer was appointed marchand-ébéniste privilégié du roi (dealer and cabinetmaker) to Louis XV, without ever becoming a master in the French guild system. This commode or chest of drawers features all the hallmarks of Joseph’s best work: an elegant, curvilinear form, variegated marble top that complements the figured veneers, and gilded mounts in their asymmetrical splendor. Its case is stamped “Joseph,” the mark he used after dropping his German surname. It is the finest example of French Rococo furniture given to Bowdoin by Susan Dwight Bliss, the Francophile collector who donated a significant collection of European works on paper, rare books, and architectural fragments now assembled in the Bliss Room of the Bowdoin College Library. American, New Amsterdam

Keywords: commode