Chasing history
Superb 1790-1820 Quebec commode on the block
A museum-quality piece of Canadiana furniture is being offered for sale by the family that has proudly owned it for three generations.
A treasured family heirloom, the ornate Quebec commode is over 200 years old and reflects superb craftmanship, carries impressive provenance and bears subtle signs of what some might consider to be culturally-controversial design elements of the time.
“The commode has been in our family for about 100 years and has always been given a prominent place in our homes,” says Michael Breakey, a semi-retired photographer who now lives in Kelowna, British Columbia, but for many years lived in Quebec, as did his ancestors. “But I’m 78 now and we are drastically downsizing, so the time has come.”
Their spectacular butternut commode with pine secondary wood is pictured in the landmark 1963 book The Early Furniture of French Canada, by Jean Palardy, considered the gold standard resource for Quebec furniture. Still in excellent condition, the commode is now slated to be sold at Miller & Miller’s Select Canadiana Furniture, Folk Art, Textiles & Pottery auction on Feb. 8, 2025 as Lot 197, estimated at between $30,000 and $50,000CA.
The commode is pictured in the landmark 1963 book The Early Furniture of French Canada, by Jean Palardy, considered the gold standard resource for Quebec furniture.
Peter Baker, a collector, appraiser, dealer, advisor to Miller & Miller Auctions and the author of the 2017 book Celebrating Canada: Decorating With History in a Contemporary Home, describes the piece this way: “In remarkable overall condition, the three-drawer commode rests on carved front feet, but rather than the traditional ‘ball and claw’ found on other commodes of the period, these are in the form of a human hand with gnarly long fingers reaching down and gripping the ball. With openwork carving above the ball, the weight of the commode incredibly rests on the four fingers gripping each ball.”
Rather than the traditional ‘ball and claw’ found on other commodes of the period, the feet on this piece are carved in the form of a human hand with gnarly long fingers reaching down and gripping the ball.
Baker also believes the commode, with its “dramatic curves, carved details and sophisticated construction” was made by a highly skilled sculptor/cabinet maker, possibly François Baillargé (1759-1830). The son of an architect and sculptor, he went off to Paris when he was just 18 to study painting, sculpture, design and architecture, bringing back his new ideas and skills to Quebec.
The above Quebec Arbalete Commode/Commode Arbalète Quebecoise is offered as lot 197 in the February 8th auction at Miller & Miller.
Breakey says his grandmother was gifted the commode by her friend, the widow of a Quebec lawyer and politician, who had moved in 1897 into an 18th-century manoir known at the time as the Seigneurie Langlois (now the historic site Baronnie-de-Portneuf). When she died in 1929 she gifted the commode to her friend, Breakey’s grandmother, who in turn willed it to her son, who eventually left it to his son - the current owner Michael Breakey. The entire family has always had a reverence for history and a deep respect for culture.
“We are an Anglo family of Irish and Scottish descent and we’ve always had strong ties to the people of Quebec,” he says. “It was essentially ‘a law’ in the family that you would learn to speak French. Even though we’re living out west now, we wanted to sell it in the east because in general there’s an elevated appreciation for the arts, culture and history in Quebec and Ontario.”
In fact, there’s actually a place in Quebec called Breakeyville, named after an ancestor. His great-great grandfather came over in 1837 from Ireland, but on the way to New York shipwrecked and landed instead in Levis, Quebec. By 1846 he had formed a business partnership and built a sawmill on the Chaudière River that had 2,000 employees. The place was known as Breakeyville, but is now called Saint-Hélène-de-Breakeyville.
To Michael Breakey, seeing the end of his family’s century-long ownership of the commode is not easy.
“I know whoever does bid on it and wins it will have a great appreciation for it and value it for its history, its workmanship and the incredible beauty of the piece. It hurts to let it go, but…”
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With files from Peter Baker, collector, appraiser, dealer, advisor to Miller & Miller Auctions.
Sale Information:
Select Canadiana Furniture, Folk Art, Textiles, and Pottery
February 8, 2025 | 9am EST
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