294 - Exceptional Louis XV-period chest of drawers by Jean-François HACHE

Exceptional Louis XV-period chest of drawers by Jean-François HACHE Curved on three sides, with three rows of drawers, the top row featuring two drawers; resting on four arched legs topped with “pastilles”; entirely veneered with stained sycamore burl and richly inlaid with flowering branches, ebony scrollwork, and violet-colored end-grain flowers; top in Alpine marble; lock plates and drawer pulls in gilded and chiseled bronze. Stamped HACHE FILS À GRENOBLE Label II Jean-François HACHE (1730–1796), cabinetmaker to the Duke of Orléans, Grenoble, circa 1760–1765 H. 84.5 cm - W. 124.5 cm - D. 63.5 cm Provenance: Former collection of Pierre Thibaud, an industrialist and major collector of Hache furniture, notably at his château in Montmeilleur in the Dauphiné region. Espace Tajan auction, Paris, March 22, 1996. Private collection. Bibliography: “Les Hache, ébénistes de Grenoble (1699–1831),” by Jeanne Michel Giroud and Edmond Delaye, Published by Didier and Richard, Grenoble 1931, pp. 39–40 and plate XXXIV; “The Hache Dynasty,” by René Fonvieille, published by Dardelet, Grenoble 1974, p. 67; “The Genius of the Hache Family,” P. and F. Rouge, Faton 2005, No. 138, p. 285 (see also No. 142, pp. 290–291, the chest of drawers by the Pâris Brothers, and No. 273, pp. 472–273; the cabinet-style secretary desk at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon). This piece will be reproduced and described in the second volume of the book “Le génie des Hache,” to be published shortly. A UNIQUE MODEL This is the only known example to date of a Louis XV-period chest of drawers with three rows of drawers made by Jean-François Hache. In it, he demonstrates his full mastery and imagination, giving prominence to the large pieces of stained sycamore burl, to which he subordinates the placement of the bronze fittings. The piece is thus liberated from its functional purpose, as its entire front is devoted to a decorative scheme of four panels featuring playful plumes; this motif is only partially repeated on the sides, creating an original asymmetry, similar to that found on the sides of the cabinet-style secretary desk at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Lyon, stamped “HACHE FILS A GRENOBLE.” He goes even further by placing his naturalistic floral marquetry outside the panels of the upper row, thereby disregarding the separation of the two small drawers. On the other hand, he embellishes the side panels with a marquetry of violets in end-grain wood—a decoration found only on the chest of drawers by the Pâris Brothers, who were financiers to Louis XIV, Louis XV, and the Regent, and who were originally from the Dauphiné region, just like Pierre Thibaud, who owned it. Françoise ROUGE, expert at the Paris Court of Appeals, 06 03 93 23 76