Roll-top desk
Stamped by Jean-François Oeben, Master in 1761
ca. 1760
Oak and sycamore veneered with tulipwood, sycamore, amaranth with holly marquetry, service tree, maple, barberry, ash burl, maple burl, amaranth; decorated with chased gilt bronze
Inv. CAM 191
© MAD, Paris / photo: Jean Tholance
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The cabinetmaker and mechanic Jean-François Oeben designed this new type of furniture piece, the most famous example of which is Louis XV’s desk at Versailles, commissioned in 1761 and delivered by Oeben’s successor Jean-Henri Riesener in 1769. Madame de Pompadour owned a desk very similar to this one (fitted with a lower shelf), remarkable for its small size and the quality of its marquetry decoration of flowers. This piece came from the collection of Comte Boni de Castellane.