Secrétaire à abattant

Jean Henri Riesener French

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 524

Sur commande de Marie-Antoinette, en 1783, Jean-Henri Riesener crée ce splendide secrétaire, de même qu’une commode assortie qui se trouve aussi au Musée. La reine destine l’ensemble à ses petits appartements, à Versailles, où elle conserve les boîtes laquées d’origine japonaise héritées de sa mère, Marie-Thérèse, impératrice d’ Autriche. Pour le placage décoratif de ces meubles royaux, l’artiste réemploie des fragments de choix provenant de laques japonais du XVIIe siècle. L’éclat noir et or de ces derniers et le lustre de l’ébène offrent un contraste saisissant avec les remarquables ferrures de bronze doré qui entrelacent couronnes et guirlandes de fleurs d’un goût naturaliste. Le chiffre de la reine est incorporé au centre de la frise, tout en haut du meuble.

Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris

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Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris
Drop-front secretary (Secrétaire en armoire), Jean Henri Riesener (French, Gladbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia 1734–1806 Paris), 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), French, Paris

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