The controversy which arose between dealers regarding an 18th Century lacquered commode due to be sold by Christie's in New York on November 24th 1998 ended when a scientific analysis of an inventory mark on its back revealed it had truly a royal provenance.
The Japanese-styled commode was produced around 1745 by French furniture maker BVRB and was intended for the room of one of King Louis XV's daughters in Versailles. It bore the number 1343 in India ink on its back, a marking that no expert or dealer in France had ever noticed. The commode was bought for one million francs (US $ 160,000) in 1973 by Paris dealer Jacques Perrin who eventually bought it back to one of his customers. Perrin then sold it in 1981 to New New York dealer Martin Zymet who then tried unsuccessfully to have it purchased by the Getty Museum.
The analysis of the ink, conducted at the laboratory of the Faculty of art history in London after several experts expressed doubts about the provenance of the commode, finally proved it had been delivered to the Versailles Palace a few weeks after it was made.
The controversy however induced the owner of the commode to reduce his reserve price from $ 9 million to 6 million but observers here said it would probably fetch a world record price in New York.
Curators of the Versailles Palace would love to acquire this rare magnificent piece but fear they would not manage to obtain enough credits for that purpose. Ironically, the commode was last sold in Versailles some 10 years ago.
Another controversy was about the way this commode was exported from France without Museum authorities noticing its importance. As usual, for all art objects worth over US $ 40,000, museum experts are visiting customs warehouses every Wednesday in order to detect any piece that would be considered as a national treasure.
Officials from the Louvre museum said the commode was legally exported but were unable to pinpoint the name of the inspector who signed the export authorisation sheet.
There are only seven known lacquered commodes made by BVRB of such quality existing in the world and specialists said they would have to wait at still another 10 years to see one of them auctioned again.
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