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A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CYLINDER BUREAU
- BY JEAN-HENRI RIESENER, CIRCA 1785

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A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CYLINDER BUREAU
BY JEAN-HENRI RIESENER, CIRCA 1785
Estimate
(Set Currency)
    $50,000 - $80,000

Sale Information

Sale 2350
500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe, Including Oriental Carpets
21 - 22 October 2010
New York, Rockefeller Plaza Buy Catalog





Lot Description

A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED MAHOGANY CYLINDER BUREAU
BY JEAN-HENRI RIESENER, CIRCA 1785
The galleried Spanish brocatelle top above three frieze drawers and a cylinder enclosing three compartments and drawers, with a pull-out writing slide, over a kneehole drawer, the right drawer faced as two drawers and containing a coffre fort, the sides with pull-out leather-lined slides, finished and mounted to reverse, on tapering fluted legs, stamped twice to left front and right rear underside J.H. RIESENER and JME
44¾ in. (114 cm.) high, 50½ in (128 cm.) wide, 25½ in. (65 cm.) wide

Lot Condition Report
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Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, Monte Carlo, 11 December 1999, lot 122.

Lot Notes

Jean-Henri Riesener, maître in 1768.

Like many of his colleagues Riesener did not just furnish the grand salons and important rooms for the Crown. He also worked for a private clientele, for whom he produced pieces which were simpler and relatively less expensive. For these types of pieces he employed the finest mahogany, moucheté or flamed, within simple ormolu frames, eliminating all bronze decoration except for drawer framing and escutcheons. These architectural pieces were of the finest quality and comprised various models such as commodes, secretaires, tables and cylinder bureaux, such as the present example. A very comparable cylinder bureau with acajou moucheté veneers and simple ormolu mounts attributed to Riesener but not signed was sold from the Collection d'un Grand Amateur, Christie's Paris, 1 June 2005, lot 411, and another similar attributed example was sold anonymously, Christie's Paris, 24 June 2009, lot 164.

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