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- Date: c. 1840-1860
- Medium: Oak, veneered with satiné, amaranth, tulipwood, burr walnut, panels of marquetry on grounds of sycamore, stringings of ebony and box, mahogany; Cararra marble, gilt-bronze, leather and blue watered silk
- Object size: 114.1 x 59.2 x 49.5 cm
- Inv: F306
- Location: West Gallery I
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- Description
- Provenance
- Further Reading
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- Despite being lauded in the second half of the nineteenth century as being an exceptional work by Riesener, that attribution can no longer be substantiated for this desk. Although certain elements, including the figurative marquetry panels, lozenge parquetry and the design of some of the mounts appear to come from the Riesener workshop, on closer inspection the work does not stand up to the quality expected from Riesener. Elements of the construction also give cause for concern. The upper and lower part of the desk are permanently fixed together, with a gilt-bronze profile added which, like other gilt-bronze mouldings, is not removable. This does not reflect the usual engineering with which Riesener assembled his furniture, and no typical Riesener joinery can be detected in X-rays. The legs have been given extensions fixed with metal dowels, which is not something seen on other Riesener furniture.
Although there are similar versions known of this piece, including later nineteenth-century copies, there are no other comparable works by Riesener. The overall form, including the oval shape of the desk, is extremely unusual, if not unique, for the late eighteenth century. There is no provenance known for it before it appears in the 4th Marquess of Hertford’s collection, where it was by 1865.
- Despite being lauded in the second half of the nineteenth century as being an exceptional work by Riesener, that attribution can no longer be substantiated for this desk. Although certain elements, including the figurative marquetry panels, lozenge parquetry and the design of some of the mounts appear to come from the Riesener workshop, on closer inspection the work does not stand up to the quality expected from Riesener. Elements of the construction also give cause for concern. The upper and lower part of the desk are permanently fixed together, with a gilt-bronze profile added which, like other gilt-bronze mouldings, is not removable. This does not reflect the usual engineering with which Riesener assembled his furniture, and no typical Riesener joinery can be detected in X-rays. The legs have been given extensions fixed with metal dowels, which is not something seen on other Riesener furniture.