Louis XVI Style Marquetry Writing Table after Jean-Henri Riesener, circa 1870

A very fine Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted marquetry commode after a model by Jean-Henri Riesener by François Linke. French, circa 1905. Linke Index No. 10. Signed 'F...

A fine Louis XVI style gilt bronze-mounted mahogany commode, with a blue turquin marble top after the model by Jean-Henri Riesener. French, circa 1880. The gilt bronze mounts s...

A fine Louis XVI Style gilt bronze and Pietre Dure mounted ebonised writing table, retailed by Edwards & Roberts. French, circa 1870. The drawer edge stamped 'Edwards & Roberts'. This Fine ebonised writing table has a three-quarter galleried superstructure with cavetto moulding above three cupboards, each with a panel door inset with Fine pietre dure panels of vases issuing flowers. The lower part of the table has a pullout / pull-out writing slide with a dark blue leather writing surface, above a long drawer centred by a tablet mounted with a foliate pietre dure panel. The table is raised on tapering square section legs united by an 'X'-frame stretcher centred by a gilt bronze vase. The beautiful Florentine pietre dure panels are inlaid in high relief with shaded agates marble, and semi-precious stones. The combination of Fine gilt bronze mounts on an ebonised ground enriched with Fine pietre dure inlay indicates the work of one of the best Parisian ébénistes of the period. Edwards & Roberts, was one of the principal London companies working in the nineteenth century in the taste of the late Eighteenth Century. They started business in 1845 and by 1854 were trading as 'Edwards & Roberts, 21 Wardour Street, Antique and Modern Cabinet Makers and Importers of Ancient Furniture'. Wardour Street became an important furniture retailing area in the second half of the 19th century. Contemporary documents note '... a fine and complete library...

A Fine Louis XVI Style mahogany and Marquetry Inlaid neoclassical breakfront commode in the manner of Jean-Henri Riesener. French, circa 189...

A magnificent and very rare Régence style marquetry inlaid grand bureau plat or writing desk. Inscribed to the carcass 'Moreaux 72'. Dating from the second half of the nineteenth century this magnificent and very rare bureau plat has finely cast rocaille gilt-bronze mounts and is decorated overall with truly breath-taking seventeenth century marquetry, depicting fantastical townscapes, knights, soldiers, hunting and architectural-scenes. Of serpentine rectangular form the top is veneered with superb marquetry panels within a foliate scrolled border and a rocaille shell-cast gilt-bronze surround, both sides featuring a recessed central drawer flanked on each side by a drawer applied with male and female terms, scrolled handles, and reserves with conforming drawers; the bombé sides are centred by foliate scrolls, and the whole raised on cabriole legs headed by cartouches with foliate entwined chutes terminating in scrolled sabots. Of impressive scale this fine bureau plat, in the manner of a partners desk, features working drawers to each side. This model of bureau plat was made by a small number of celebrated Parisian cabinet makers in the second half of the 19th century including Beurdeley, Cremer and Befort Jeune. It is incredibly rare to see this model of bureau plat inlaid in marquetry. The exceptional quality and style indicate the use of older reused marquetry, almost certainly dating from the late 17th century and originating from the Augsburg region of Germany. Similar models but lacking the exceptional marquetry inlay can be found in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Bowhill, and the Earl of Normanton at Somerlely. Christopher Payne notes that the latter was part of a pair sold by the London dealer Toms & Luscombe in 1871. He illustrates the present bureau plat in his book ‘European Furniture of the 19th Century’ (p. 88-89), along with two related desks minus the marquetry inlay (p. 92 -93). The exceptional and highly complex marquetry inlay and intarsia work, that sets this important bureau plat apart from other extant examples, would originally have formed the decorative panels of a late 17th century table cabinet, almost certainly ascribable to the Augsburg region of Germany. Augsburg emerged from the middle of the 16th century as the German centre of luxury cabinet making for the international market. In particular, the development of marquetry contributed to this prominent position, favoured by the ready availability of indigenous woods and the reputation that Augsburg had the best craftsmen able to cut thin layers of veneers in the most intricate motifs (C.S. Wood, ‘The Perspective Treatise in Ruins: Lorenz Stöer, Geometria et perspectiva, 1567’, Studies in the History of Art, no. 59, p. 246). Table cabinets, conceived as a form of Wunderkammer or cabinets of curiosities, were intended as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects and by the 1550s the grandest cabinets in Europe were being made in Augsburg. Decorated almost entirely with sumptuous marquetry, often depicting perspective views of ruins and fantastical townscapes, they become by the 1590s highly regarded as important diplomatic gifts. Fine Augsburg marquetry panels remained popular throughout the ages and were frequently re-used to create or embellish new items of furniture, such as this magnificent bureau plat. Their inclusion was not only for their highly decorative appeal, but to contemporary eyes, a means by which to imbue a new creation with a sense of true historical authenticity. The importance of such panels is often reflected in the high cost involved in repurposing them. A fine example of this is the celebrated 17th century cabinet on stand...

A Fine Louis XVI Style gilt bronze Mounted Commode after a Model by Jean-François Leleu. French, circa 1870. This important commode has a moulded rectangular Brocatelle Violette du Jura marble top above a frieze drawer with a pierced foliate cast panel, above two panelled long drawers quarter-veneered sans travers. The fluted angles of the commode are headed by scrolled acanthus cast clasps and it is raised on turned tapering legs with toupie feet. The commode is based on the celebrated 18th century model, by Jean-François Leleu (1729-1807), now conserved at the Petit Trianon at Versailles. It was placed there in 1867 following an exhibition organised at the request of Empress Eugénie in memory of Queen Marie-Antoinette. The commode was further exhibited in Paris in the retrospective part of the Exposition de l' Union centrale des arts décoratifs in 1882. Literature: Exposition de l' Union centrale des arts décoratifs, (Paris), 1882. De Champeau & Others. Les arts du bois, pub. Quantin, 1883; p. 80. P. Arizzoli-Clementel. Versailles Furniture...

Magnificent Louis XVI style center table in mahogany and rosewood marquetry. Superb ornamentation of very finely chiseled gilded bronze. Opening a large drawer. Parisian work from...

A striking French antique Louis XVI style gilt bronze mounted writing table made after the model by cabinetmaker to King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinetteean, important ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener (German/French, 1734-1806) and later reproduced by Francois Linke (French, 1855-1946). Signed bronze mounts, Marco. Born in France in the early 19th century, possibly during the late 18th century Louis XVI period, most likely Parisian work, exquisitely hand-crafted in several woods of contrasting colors including walnut and mahogany to create fine wooden inlays and parquetry detailing. The original partially inset marble top with dramatic veining sits above a flat sided break-fronted front and back adorned with fine bas-relief bronze plaques cast adorned with putti cherubs in the manner of the French sculptor Clodion (Claude Michel, 1738-1814). The centered front bronze panel disguises a single frieze drawer with dovetail joinery and original key, flanked by gilded bronze foliate mounted rounded corners, a simulated panel drawer to the reverse, embellished on all four sides by intricate finely chiseled, chased and sculpted scrolling laurel ribbon and garland swag ormolu mounts, patinated brass running ornamentation, rising elegantly on four bronze dore ring mounted straight tapering fluted legs, terminating in patinated bronze toupie feet sabots. Signed / marks; the bronzes are stamped / incised Marco. PROVENANCE / ACQUISITION: Property from the Collection of Gloria Monnet Nicholson, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Acquired from highly reputable auction house Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. Fine Furniture & Decorative Arts Signature Auction, catalog #8085. Dimensions: (approx) 30" High, 32" Wide 21.5" Deep As warm and attractive as it is useful, having the ideal size and proportions for a variety of different uses, including as a side table, petite bureau...

A very good quality 19th century French Louis XVI style mahogany bureau plat. Having an inset leather top, gilded ormolu mouldings and scrolling foliate mounts to the frieze, two fri...

Beautiful Louis XVI style wooden writing table. The rectangular top, surrounded on three sides by a fine pierced and gilt-bronze frieze, above a d...

With new black tooled leather top and cross banded edge and brass edge over a frieze with three drawers and raised on square tapered legs. Provenance ; Waldorf Towers NYC. L. Supplie...

Writing desk from France in the Louis XVI style. This piece has been ebonized and finished with a lustrous French polish. There are five dovetailed drawers all with brass original ha...