Furniture by one of the greatest cabinet-makers of the eighteenth century
JEAN-HENRI RIESENER (1734–1806)
Chest of drawers
1778Oak, purplewood, satiné, tulipwood, stained woods, burr wood, ebony or ebonised wood, box, gilt bronze, Campan marble | 100 x 180 x 67.3 cm | 2252
Madame Élisabeth was Louis XVI’s youngest sister, and Riesener made this chest of drawers for her bedroom in the new apartments she was given at Versailles in 1778. The marquetry decoration on the breakfront panel, showing a serpent-handled hardstone vase next to a basket of fruit and flowers, was one which Riesener used on other pieces of royal furniture, including a chest of drawers delivered to Louis XVI’s cabinet de retraite at Fontainebleau.
Digital model
3D visualisation of the object
Watch the film below to learn about the construction of the chest of drawers
