BY ROGER VANDERCRUSE, KNOWN AS LACROIX, CIRCA 1774

This commode formed part of the furniture suppled to Mesdames Clotilde and Elisabeth, sisters of Louis XVI, for their residence at Fontainebleau. Orders for furniture were given by the then aged ébéniste du roi Gilles Joubert who evidently subcontracted much of this quantity of new work to other makers, including both Riesener and Roger Vandercruse.
Roger Vandercruse (1727-1799), known as Lacroix, was born in Paris to a Flemish family. He became a maître in 1755, but was already deeply connected to the cabinetmaker circles in Paris at the time; one of his sisters first married Jean-François Oeben before marrying Jean-Henri Riesener. Two of his other sisters were then married to Simon Oeben and Simon Guillaume. Finally, through his wife, he was the brother-in-law of Pierre Pioniez and Jean Marchand.
The distinctive form of commode seen in the present lot, known as a 'commode à la grecque', was a specialty of both Jean-François Oeben and Simon Oeben, who almost exclusively supplied them the duc de Choiseul and Madame de Pompadour. In the 1760s, Lacroix was among the first cabinet-makers who embraced Neoclassicism, and may have picked up this form of commode while working with his brothers-in-law.
The first entry of this commode in the Journal de Garde-Meuble appears on 31 August 1774, and reads:
"Livré par le Sr Riesener... Pour servir à Mesdames Clotilde et Elisabeth au dit château [Fontainebleau]... No 2779 - Une commode de bois satiné a placages et dessus de marbre de Flandres ayant 2 tiroirs fermans a clef avec entrées de serrures et anneaux mobiles, soubassement, encognures, et pieds en griffe de lyon le tout de bronze en couleur d'or, longue de 4 pieds sur 24 pou. de profondeur et 34 pou. de haut."
Though stated to have been supplied by Riesener, the presence of Lacroix's RVLC stamp indicates that this commode was likely subcontracted to Lacroix due to the large volume of furniture that was ordered. Similar commodes by Lacroix with three frieze drawers were sold at Christie's, Paris, 26 May 2020, lot 120, and 24 November 2020, lot 132.