A Swiss gilt-bronze-and brass-mounted rosewood and yew-wood parquetry commode by Mathäus Funk (1697-1783)

of serpentine bombé form, with a later moulded mottled pink, grey and white marble top above two drawers with gilt-bronze foliate cast handles terminating in a rocaille spray, the lower drawer applied with scrolls cast with trails of foliage and flowers on a parquetery trelliswork ground, on splayed legs terminating in gilt-bronze sabots

Comparative Literature:
H. Kreisel, Die kunst des Deutschen Möbels, Vol. II, München, 1968, plate 1133.
Walter de Sager, The Funk Family, Craftsmen of Berne, pp. 257-262.

Mathäus Funk (1697-1783) started his apprenticeship in Frankfurt where he worked under an ébéniste, whereafter he resided in Paris for a number of years. He returned to Berne where he was permitted to open his own workshop in 1724, this due to his impressive craftmanship and experience. He was the only French trained ébéniste within the city walls and his highly developed skills gained him rapid recognition. His customers included the Ducal court of Wurttemberg and leading Parisian families.

Funk produced a wide variety of secrétaires, desks, armchairs and clock cases, but he was most well known for his commodes in the Louis XIV, XV and XVI styles. His modification of the French rococo commode was often surmounted by a marble top and he used fine veneers which were accentuated by elaborate rocaille gilt-bronze mounts.  According to de Sager, op. cit., `This commode, new to the Bernese, captured their imagination, and became the most important piece of furniture in their 18^th century salons...'

He was also honoured by the Council of State with important commissions for the City Hall, the seat of the Bernese Canonal government, since 1406.  Other orders then followed from stately homes in the city and castles in the surrounding areas. Mathäus worked with his brothers, Johann-Friedrich and his clockmaker son Daniel.

For a very similar commode by Funk, see de Sager, op. cit., p. 261, fig. 10, circa 1730, from the Hallwil Collection, Swiss National Museum, Zurich, reproduced here in fig.1.  

Also see a commode  by Mathäus Funk conceived in a similar vein, illustrated by Kreisel, op. cit.,  plate 1133, in the Hôtel de Musique, Berne, reproduced here in fig. 2. 

A commode by the same maker veneered in walnut with identical mounts was sold as lot 297, Sotheby's, Zurich, 31st May 1990.