Drop-front secretaire (secrètaire à abattant)

ca. 1770–75
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 539
The form of this secretary, with its pierced pagoda-shaped top, is exceptional in French furniture. Although furniture in the Chinese taste was designed and executed in England during the second half of the eighteenth century, French chinoiserie was almost always limited to the surface decoration. The Oriental scenes in imitation lacquer on the front panels are based on designs for The Four Elements by François Boucher, known from engravings (1740) by Pierre Aveline. The element of fire, apparently the only one for which the original drawing by Boucher exists (now in the Metropolitan), shows a man pouring hot tea into the cup of a seated man who also appears twice on the front of the secretary. Charming tea-drinking scenes formed an important aspect of chinoiserie decoration.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Drop-front secretaire (secrètaire à abattant)
  • Maker: René Dubois (1737–1799, master 1755)
  • Date: ca. 1770–75
  • Culture: French, Paris
  • Medium: Painted and varnished oak, veneered with European lacquer, mahogany, purplewood, gilt-bronze mounts
  • Dimensions: 60 x 26 3/4 x 13 3/8 in. (152.4 x 67.9 x 34cm)
  • Classification: Woodwork-Furniture
  • Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982
  • Object Number: 1982.60.57
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.