Furniture by one of the greatest cabinet-makers of the eighteenth century
Fall-front desk
1780Oak, purplewood, satiné, tulipwood, stained woods, burr wood, ebony or ebonised wood, box, gilt bronze, Carrara marble | 144 x 112 x 45.5 cm | F300
Riesener delivered this fall-front desk to Marie-Antoinette’s private sitting room, or cabinet intérieur, at Versailles in 1780. It is remarkable for the quality of its pictorial marquetry, which depicts a Gallic cockerel on the fall-front, two hardstone vases of flowers on the lower doors, and trellises interspersed with flowers on the sides. This marquetry was made by arranging hundreds of individual pieces of different types of wood veneer in a jigsaw-like fashion. It would also have been stained in vivid colours, creating a magnificent visual effect.
Isometric drawings
Graphics showing the construction of the object
Digital model
3D visualisation of the object
