Oliver Cornish
Sale Coordinator for Furniture, Sculpture, Rugs & Tapestries
Lot 31TP
A Louis XV ormolu mounted tulipwood, amaranth, stained sycamore and engraved fruitwood marquetry serpentine commode by Pierre Fléchy (1715-1769) 1750-1755
3 December 2025, 13:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£5,000 - £7,000
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Thomas Moore
Head of Department
A Louis XV ormolu mounted tulipwood, amaranth, stained sycamore and engraved fruitwood marquetry serpentine commode by Pierre Fléchy (1715-1769)
1750-1755
Of arc-en-arbalette form, the breche d'alep marble top with a moulded edge, above two long oak lined drawers inlaid sans traverse with assorted flowers within a shaped cartouche, the lower drawer with an integral shaped apron, flanked by scrolled acanthus and opposing c-scrolled mounted and keeled angles, on square section tapering legs, the front legs slightly splayed, each side inlaid with similar flowers and foliage within a shaped cartouche, the top stamped: 'P. FLECHY, JME', 131cm wide x 66cm deep x 89.5cm high, (51 1/2in wide x 25 1/2in deep x 35in high)
Of arc-en-arbalette form, the breche d'alep marble top with a moulded edge, above two long oak lined drawers inlaid sans traverse with assorted flowers within a shaped cartouche, the lower drawer with an integral shaped apron, flanked by scrolled acanthus and opposing c-scrolled mounted and keeled angles, on square section tapering legs, the front legs slightly splayed, each side inlaid with similar flowers and foliage within a shaped cartouche, the top stamped: 'P. FLECHY, JME', 131cm wide x 66cm deep x 89.5cm high, (51 1/2in wide x 25 1/2in deep x 35in high)
Footnotes
Provenance
The present lot was purchased by the current owner and vendor, Christie's, West Dean Park, West Sussex, 2 June 1986, lot 132. The invoice for this is now available to view online.
Pierre Fléchy, maître ébéniste, in 1756.
Fléchy was one of the many ébénistes working in the busy environs of the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine. First working as artisan privilégié, then as maître ébéniste, Fléchy specialised in marquetry of large flowers in bois clair which covered the entirety or vast majority of the surface of his commodes, as can be seen on the present lot. Similar to many other confrères ébénistes of the period, he also produced a certain quantity of fashionable furniture executed using, or possibly more accurately, incorporating very high quality lacquer.
Another Louis XV commode by Fléchy, one with comparable floral marquetry and most likely of a very similar date of execution to the offered example, is illustrated in P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Francais du XVIIIeme Siecle, 1989, Paris, fig D., p. 309.
West Dean Park
The auction of West Dean Park by Christies dispersed the important art collection of its owner, Edward James (who had died in 1984), along with the remaining collection of the house and estate. The proceeds were donated to the Edward James Foundation, which used them to establish West Dean College as an educational centre for the arts and conservation.
The collection was built by James, a patron of the Surrealist movement, and his father, William Dodge James who had acquired the West Dean Park estate in 1891. William James acquired numerous heirlooms from the previous owners, the Peachy family and added his own acquisitions, creating an eclectic country house collection which was then passed to his son on his death in 1912. It is plausible that the commode may have therefore been a piece from the original contents of the house dating back to the late 18th century.
Edward James continued to add to his father's collection and later moved to the Edwin Lutyen's designed Monkton House, built within the grounds for his parents in 1902 as a hunting lodge to accommodate additional house guests. James infamously painted the exterior purple, adding decorative palm columns to its facade in the 1930's, whilst fashioning a flamboyant interior to display his collection of surrealist art, which included works by Salvador Dali, for himself and his wife, the dancer and actress Tilly Losch.