Owner: Robert de Rothschild — Paris, France
Collection: (BoR) Botschaft Rothschild--The largest collections stolen in France mostly by specialized elements of the German occupation forces belonged to the Rothschild family. The German Embassy in Paris guided by Ambassador Otto Abetz, oversaw the plunder of property belonging to various members of the Rothschild family, including Maurice, Alexandrine, James-Armand and Edmond. These early removals of Rothschild property occurred in the summer and fall of 1940 and were greatly aided by the Devisenschutzkommando (DSK), a securities and financial fraud police organization that had jurisdiction over bank vaults and safe deposit boxes where thousands of art objects were stored for safekeeping.
Inventory No.: BoR 14
Kiste Nr. B 27
Anhängender Zettel MR 16.
Artist: Louis XV, Franz., Martin Etienne Lhermite, geb. 1730, Meister seit 1755, gest. zw. 1761 u. 1786
Medium: Decorative Arts
Title: Kommode [von Lhermite]m Palisander (?), Marketerie, vergoldete Bronzebeschläge
Description: Vier elcit geschwungene Beine, darüber ein massiger, bauchig vorgewölbter Körper mit zwei die ganze Vorderfront einnehmende Schüben und geschweiften Schmalseiten. Blumenranken in Marketerie auf dunkel umrandeten Feldern.
Die Vorderseite wird von Rocailleranken aus vergoldeter Bronze, die stellenweise als Schubladengriff sich freiplastisch herauslösen, in drei Felder gegriedert. Schuhe, Eckstücke, Einfassungsleisten der Schmalseiten sowie die als Blumen gebildeten Schlüsselschilder ebenfalls aus Gold-bronze. Marmorplatte (Rance.
Signiert: M.E. Lhermite und Innungsstempel.

H. 84
Br. 165
T. 67 cm
Literature: Salverte S. 195, Theunissen S 117.
Provenance and Comments: This item went from the German Embassy to the Jeu de Paume in mid-December 1940. It was restored in the winter of 1944-1945. Repatriation to France occurred in two parts: the marble was returned on 18 October 1945 while the 'Kommode' was returned on 19 October 1945.
Archival Sources: RG 260 M1943 Reel 2 NARA; Bundesarchiv, B323/293, B323/294, B323/304; RA 14, RV 103, MAEE, Paris, France
Measurements: 84 x 165 x 67 cm
Transfer place: German Embassy, Paris
Transfer date: 1940-08-00
Transfer place: Louvre
Transfer place: Jeu de Paume
Transfer date: 1941-05-02
Transfer place: Neuschwanstein
Transfer place: Lager Peter
Repatriated to France? Yes
Repatriation date: 1945-10-19
Restituted? Yes
Restitution date: 1946-03-12
Images: