DANIËLLE KISLUK-GROSHEIDE: All these wonderful works of art were really a collaborative effort.

NARRATOR: Daniëlle Kisluk-Grosheide.

DANIËLLE KISLUK-GROSHEIDE: This particular piece was made by Guillaume Benneman. And thanks to the bills that have been preserved, we also know many of the other craftsmen that were involved in the making of this particular piece.

NARRATOR: Strict guild regulations led to a high degree of specialization. For these gilt-bronze mounts alone, three artisans made models. Another cast these models in molds. Several others chased, or finished, them. This created a variety of surfaces to reflect light differently. And finally, yet another artisan gilded them with a mixture of ground gold and highly toxic mercury. This resulted in some of the finest mounts ever made by Parisian artisans. The large classical female figures are sculptures in their own right, and the latest expression of Neoclassical taste. Louis XVI commissioned this unusually tall writing secretary for one of his hunting castles, the Château de Compiègne. The lavish piece represented the kind of extravagant spending that led, in part, to the French Revolution that brought down the ancien régime.