Lacquer on a side table from the mid eighteenth-century
Japanese lacquer was considered to be in the height of fashion for eighteenth-century French furniture. Because it was so difficult to produce, a piece of furniture or a box with a lacquer veneer was extremely valuable. In some cases, an imitation material was applied to give a similar visual effect. Most lacquer veneers were cut from screens or other pieces of furniture, usually from seventeenth-century Japan. Then they were then heated and glued to the new furniture body. Gilt-bronze pieces were useful in covering any damage or joints in the original lacquer.
Jean Henri Riesener’s secrétaire and commode made for Marie Antoinette in 1783 were designed to match a set of lacquer boxes that the Queen had inherited from her mother. To learn more about these pieces and lacquer, visit the Lacquer World project.
Jean Henri Riesener’s secretaire and commode for Marie Antoinette