RIESENER, Jean-Henri
(b. 1754, Gladbeck, d. 1806, Paris)

Console-Desserte

c. 1785
Gilt-bronze-and brass-mounted fruitwood and ebony inlaid sycamore, mahogany and parquetry, 91 x 99 x 43 cm
Private collection

This elegant console-desserte has a D-shaped grey-veined white marble top above a frieze containing three drawers mounted with alternating pierced band of gilt-bronze bell-flowers and lunettes, the backboard with lozenges, on square tapering legs joined by a marble shelf with a pierced gilt-bronze gallery terminating in tapering block feet with gilt-bronze foliate sabots.

This piece demonstrates Riesener in transition from the elaborate pictorial marquetry of his early career to the sober plain veneers of his later years.