RARE PAIR OF DRESSERS STAMPED J.H RIESENER. Of... Lot 58

RARE PAIR OF DRESSERS STAMPED J.H RIESENER. Of half-moon shape in veneer of sycamore mesh said to be "silver gray satinwood" inlaid in a mosaic of diamonds bounded by a double net of ebony and boxwood, in frames in amaranth. They open in the waist with a large central drawer forming a writing desk lined with green morocco gilded with small irons discovering two small drawers, two side drawers each operated by a push button and two leaves at the bottom unmasking an interior with nine drawers and a large box (probably a drawer-coffin missing) mahogany and mahogany veneer, framed laterally by three shelves. They stand on sheath feet. Stamped J.H Riesener. White veined marble top (cracks on the shelves). Louis XVI period around 1784-1785 Rich decoration of chased and gilded bronzes such as frames, friezes of pearls, entrances of locks decorated with loves and numbers CD and JM, apron, gallery and sabots. (Restorations, small accidents of veneer) The leaves were probably decorated in the first third of the nineteenth century with oval plates in hard porcelain with polychrome decoration representing the transformation of the caterpillar into a butterfly. H:95 W:149 D:53 cm H:95 W:149,5 D:53,5 cm Provenance: Private collection Robert W. Hudson Collection, Villa Paloma: -Inventory 1950; -Inventory 1934 By family tradition, former collection of the Duke of Sutherland Of German origin, Jean-Henri Riesener, the most famous cabinetmaker of the reign of Louis XVI, trained in Paris in the workshop of his compatriot Jean-François Œben. When Œben died in 1763, he helped his widow to keep the workshop going. In 1767, he married Œben's widow, which facilitated his accession to the master's degree in 1768. He succeeded Joubert as supplier of furniture to the Crown in 1774, a position he held until the Revolution. He was the appointed cabinetmaker of Queen Marie-Antoinette but became too expensive and was replaced by the cabinetmaker Guillaume Beneman. The construction of these chests of drawers corresponds to the technical perfection that one has the right to expect from the cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener: the name of this cabinetmaker is always synonymous with quality of execution: architecture of the piece of furniture, choice of woods, elegance of the line, finesse of the marquetry, finish without reproach. This type of marquetry in mosaic of lozenges on a background of sycamore mesh described in the inventories of the Garde-Meuble Royal "silver-gray satinwood" surrounded by a double net of ebony and boxwood is characteristic of the production of Riesener in the years 1785. Indeed he received an order in July 1784 and delivered on December 21 for the small apartments of Queen Marie-Antoinette in the Tuileries palace: a chest of drawers (inv. OA 10276), a night table (inv. OA 10307), a toilet (inv. T 551c) intended for the queen's bedroom now preserved in the Louvre museum and a secretary (inv. OA 5226)1 to her inner cabinet now in the Petit Trianon. A chest of drawers comparable to the one presented here was once in the possession of Etienne Lévy2. We can also mention the use of this marquetry by Riesener on a secretary with flap formerly in the Ségoura gallery in Paris3 and a corner cabinet4. If Riesener provides furniture for the crown and furnishes the castles of Marly, Versailles, Fontainebleau, Saint Cloud ... he also works for a private clientele and counts among his sponsors the dukes of : Larochefoulcauld, Biron, Praslin, Grimod de la Reynière The chests of drawers are found in 1934, according to the inventory made during the first two weeks of October, in the dining room mentioned on the 19th page: "2. Between two Louis XVI, rich marquetry, gilded and chased copper decorations. 2 painted medallions and porcelain. The room is richly furnished "Oval table with extension, four chairs caned armchairs, eleven chairs in varnished wood, two pieces of furniture dessert, veneers and marquetry richly painted, two urn vases closing with key veneer and marquetry, two blue vases potiches, porcelain of China, gilded appliques, two vases potiches blue, porcelain of China, game table (veneer and marquetry), half-moon sideboard, with doors and drawers, closings with key (veneer and marquetry), sideboard oak with two drawers, screen gilded wood mounts 4 round glasses sain tain. Panels rich fabric. 4 bronze candlesticks richly chiseled, 4 candlesticks. A large chandelier 6 branches, cut glassware and crystal pendants. 3 Pair of curtains "lie de vin" with rods and rings. In the inventory of December 1950, they are described in the same room under No. 189 sheet 11: "Two sideboards in marquetry, many drawers inside, application