Art Deco Palisander Commode of Unusual Form With Parchment Covered Drawers

A Fine and Unusual Early Art Deco Commode in Palisander with Parchment-Covered Drawers,

French - circa1930’s

This fine and interesting commode is veneered primarily in palisander wood of lovely colour and figure. There are additional ebonised mouldings on the aprons to top and bottom of the piece and on the rounded pilasters to each side of the drawer section. The twelve drawers are of uniform size and are covered in fine parchment which has aged beautifully with signs of use and character. The designer of the piece has chosen not to ruin the clean lines with drawer handles so the pieces open using the key as a handle. The carcase of the piece is supported on rounded supports and a slim plinth base.

This piece dates to the 1930s and is therefore an early piece of Art Deco furniture with evidence of the new taste but with the rounded lines also looking back to classic pieces of the 19th century for inspiration. The use of parchment in combination with palisander is quirky and luxurious and recalls the work of the great designer Jean Pascaud who used precisely this same combination on a number of commodes produced in Paris in the 1930s and 1940s. Although a firm attribution is not possible, the present piece is certainly of the level of quality associated with Pascaud and would have been produced in a major French workshop of the period combining the latest manufacturing techniques with classic materials. The commode exudes luxury and fine proportion in equal measures.

Width: 51 inches - 130cm
Height: 35 inches - 88cm
Depth: 20 1/2 inches - 52cm