NARRATOR: In this room are several pieces by Bernard Van Risenburgh, whose furniture is among the finest made during the mid-eighteenth-century. Including, in the center of the room a small writing table. The exquisite floral marquetry on the table’s top testifies to why the technique was called “painting in wood.” Here, the marquetry consists of various exotic wood inlays made even richer by inlays of tinted horn and mother-of-pearl. To the right of the chimneypiece in this room is a rare combination of a commode with a console table. The commode was one of the popular new types of furniture introduced in the eighteenth-century. It featured drawers. And this piece has only one in its deep frieze. A console table is made to stand against a wall. This unusual hybrid was fashionable for only a brief period during the middle of the century. Van Risenburgh has veneered the table with panels of Japanese lacquer, dating from the seventeenth century. Asian lacquer was a luxury item, and had been shipped to Europe in limited quantities since the late sixteenth century. But when the older imported lacquer chests and cabinets became out-of-date, talented cabinetmakers like Van Risenburgh would re-use the original lacquer surface. Here, he has carefully cut and bent existing Japanese lacquer panels to fit on a new, more stylish piece.