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A pair of mahogany and ormolu mounted commodes a vantaux in the…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Sydney
Date:
22-Jun-2021
Lot No.
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Description:
A pair of mahogany and ormolu mounted commodes a vantaux in the Russian style, early 19th century, remounted after 1993 in the manner of Friedrich Gambs, each having a stepped, crossbanded top with canted angles, above an ormolu dentil frieze and pair of panelled doors centred with a sunburst patera and reeds on a shaped star and fluted ground, within a beaded frame, the keyholes with bearded mask escutcheons, enclosing drawers to one commode and shelves to the other, the canted corner angles with triglyphs and panels of fluting above a flowerhead, the tapering conforming legs with cast sabots. Each with firebrand marks TT below a crown, one with inventory mark in pencil St.E 15549, for Schloss St Emmeram, Regensburg the other with L170 for Schloss Leitomeisehl, Bohemia.. Provenance: Sotheby's, Sammlung Thurn & Taxis sale, 12-15 October 1993, Regensburg, lot 33. John Hobbs, 107A Pimlico Road, London, 2006. Bonhams, The Owston Collection, Day 2, 26 June 2010, lot 1226, acquired from the above. Other Notes: originally part of the contents of Schloss St Emmeram in Regensburg, Germany, (an opulent palace that was one of the seats of the Princely Thurn und Taxis family), these commodes were sold in the massive Sotheby's auction of the collection in 1993. Between the sale date and their re-appearance on the market in London in the early 2000s they underwent an ' extreme makeover' that transformed them from a polite pair of Viennese cabinets to a knockout pair of 'Russian' commodes a vantaux, that is with doors hiding the three long drawers within. Richly mounted with ormolu stars and mouldings in the manner of the celebrated maker Heinrich Gambs they were sold to a noted Australian collector for a purported six figure pounds sterling amount. Resurfacing in the Owston collection auction in Sydney in 2010 where they were acquired by the current vendor, the Thurn und Taxis collection stamp was discovered and the mystery was unravelled.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Furniture: Cabinets & Cupboards - Storage