The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire)

Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire)

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Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire)

Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladebeck, near Hessen 1734–1806 Paris)

Date:: 1783
Culture:: French, Paris
Medium:: Oak veneered with ebony and 17th-century Japanese lacquer; interiors veneered with tulipwood, amaranth, holly, and ebonized holly; gilt-bronze mounts; marble top; velvet (not original)
Dimensions:: H. 57 in. (144.8 cm), W. 43 in. (109.2 cm), D. 16 in. (40.6 cm)
Classification:: Woodwork
Credit Line:: Bequest of William K. Vanderbilt, 1920
Accession Number:: 20.155.11

This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 528

Description

This secretary and its companion commode (MMA, 20.155.12) stood in Marie Antoinette's private apartment at the château de Saint-Cloud; her initials appear three times in the gilt-bronze frieze under the marble top. The opulent refinement of this secretary, made about 1784 by Riesener, responds to the taste of his royal client. Cascading down the front are exquisitely chased gilt-bronze flowers, while fruit, wheat, flowers, and symbols of princely glory spill from the cornucopia mounts along the lower edge. The black-and-gold panels of Japanese lacquer reflect the queen's fondness for this material.
Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscription: [three times in center of frieze, gilt bronze] : MA (monogram of Marie Antoinette)

Marking: [on back, branded]: [crowned] MA [within legend] GARDE MEUBLE DE LA REINE (stamp of the Garde-Meuble of Marie Antoinette); [under marble top, stenciled]: [crowned] SC (inventory mark of Château de Saint-Cloud)
Provenance

Château de Saint-Cloud, Seine-et-Oise, France; Fonthill Abbey, Wiltshire, England; Hamilton Palace, Lanarkshire, Scotland Marie Antoinette, Queen of France , Château de Saint-Cloud, Seine-et-Oise (ca. 1783–after 1789) ; [ sale held by Directeurs of the Directoire (Directorate) (in 1799) ] ; Abraham Alcan , Paris ; William Beckford (until 1823; sale, Phillips, London, October 22, 1823, no 1579) ; George Watson-Taylor , Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire (until 1832) ; William Alexander Louis Stephen Douglas-Hamilton, 12th Duke of Hamilton (until 1882) ; Dukes of Hamilton (1835/40–82; sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, July 10, 1882, no. 1297; sold to F. Davis); F. Davis (from 1882) ; William K. Vanderbilt , New York (until 1920; bequeathed to MMA)
See also
Who
Jean Henri Riesener (6)
What
Metal (59,485)

Copper alloy (16,688)

Bronze (11,676)

Wood (9,155)

Gilt (9,080)

Furniture (5,719)

Plate (2,671)

Woodwork (2,574)

Marble (2,130)

Lacquer (1,691)

Ormolu (1,681)

Oak (1,103)

Case furniture (869)

Ebony (362)

Desks (192)

Tulipwood (150)

Holly (67)

Amaranth (64)

Secretaries (38)

Wardrobes (14)

Fall-front desks (11)

Armoires (9)

Secrétaires à abattant (8)
Where
Europe (150,450)

France (49,658)

Paris (2,007)
When
A.D. 1600-1800 (67,255)
In the Museum
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts (43,182)
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History
The Golden Age of French Furniture in the Eighteenth Century

French Furniture in the Eighteenth Century: Case Furniture

The Art, Form, and Function of Gilt Bronze in the French Interior

France, 1600–1800 A.D.
MetPublications
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