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Jean-Henri Riesener (Franco-German, 1734-1806)
Three-tiered …
See original version (French)
276
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Jean-Henri Riesener (Franco-German, 1734-1806)
Three-tiered …
See original version (French)
Estimate €60,000 - €80,000
Voluntary lot
Description
Jean-Henri Riesener (Franco-German, 1734-1806)
Three-tiered console table, c.1785
Mahogany, ormolu and mahogany veneer on an oak frame.
The top is moulded in turquoise blue marble.
The belt opens to reveal three drawers, two of which are butterfly-winged on the sides. It rests on four fluted pilaster jambs decorated with asparagus tips.
They are joined by two brace shelves. The first, veneered in mahogany, is encircled by a moulding. The second, covered in turquoise marble, is surrounded by an openwork gallery.
It is supported by four sheathed feet terminating in hooves.
Gilded bronze ornamentation for the drawer handles, connecting dice, mouldings, drawer frames, galleries, asparagus tips and for the sabots.
Stamped three times "J. H. Riesener" on the jambs.
Louis XVI period.
Height 97 cm, length 134 cm, depth 53 cm.
Minor accidents and restorations.
Provenance: collection of René Guigues de Moreton Marquis de Chabrillan (1886-1938), château de Neuville-sur-Oise; by family descent, Touraine.
Mahogany, marble and gilt bronze 3-tier dessert console table by Riesener, similar to one supplied for the Queen at the Petit Trianon in 1785.
Related work: a similar console table supplied in 1785 for Marie-Antoinette's dining room at the Hameau du Petit Trianon is kept at the Château de Versailles (no. V4783).
Along with Boulle, Riesener is the only cabinetmaker of the Ancien Régime whose name has never ceased to be mentioned. Born in Westphalia in 1734, he emigrated to Paris, settled in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine and joined Jean-François Oeben's workshop, becoming its director on his death before becoming a master in 1768. In 1769, the completion of the King's desk opened the doors of the Crown to him. Appointed the King's cabinetmaker between 1774 and 1784, his workshop was able to deliver more than 70 pieces of furniture a year, both for the Crown and for foreign courts or private collectors: Louis XVI's commode in 1775 (Musée Condé, Chantilly, OA246), the Countess of Provence's jewellery cupboard in 1780 (The Royal Collection, Windsor Castle), dozens of pieces whose quality of execution and sumptuous bronzes remain unrivalled. In 1784, the new intendant Thierry de Villes d'Avray deemed his prices prohibitive and put an end to his official mission.
However, he continued to work for the royal family, notably as Queen Marie-Antoinette's favourite cabinetmaker, who paid him out of her personal coffers. This is the background to our console. Its closest sister was delivered around 1785 for the dining room of the Hameau du Petit-Trianon. It is now in the Château de Versailles (Versailles, V4783). The same period, the same private commission, the same style: that of the so-called "service" furniture that Riesener produced from the 1780s in response to a demand for greater sobriety. The marquetry decoration gave way to large panels of Santo Domingo mahogany, underlined by ormolu baguettes, in a taste known as "Etruscan", which can be seen, for example, on the secretary in the Getty Museum (Miami, 71.DA.104). The gilded bronzes are concentrated on the essential points, but their quality of execution remains that of the great works commissioned by the King, revealing the "Riesener quality".
For Riesener was less a craftsman than a conductor. His portrait by Antoine Vestier is eloquent (Versailles, MV8136): rather than being shown with tools, he is holding a pen in front of documents. He designed, drew and coordinated, entrusting the execution to the best specialists of his generation: RVLC, Delosse and Weisweiler for the woodwork, the Damerat brothers and François Rémond for the bronzes. He retained mastery of his models, which he reused with rigorous consistency from one composition to the next. The openwork gallery and the draw handles on this console can be found on the Versailles sideboard and on a secrétaire à cylindre in the Wallace Collection (London, F 277); the sconces echo the secrétaire en armoire in the Frick Collection, circa 1780 (New York, 1915.5.75), the first forms of which appear on the commode de Fontanieu in the Musée Condé (Chantilly, OA245).
Our console, however, differs from the one in Versailles in that it has a middle tier and in the importance given to the gilded bronzes that form its main ornament. This three-tier arrangement, which we have not found on any other comparable console, including in royal deliveries, makes it a singular piece. It was kept in the collection of the Marquis de Chabrillan at the Château de Neuville-sur-Oise, before passing by descent to Touraine. Stamped three times on the jambs: the Queen would have recognised and loved it even without it!
Nicolas Clery
See original version (French)
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