LOUIS XVI PERIOD CONSOLE TABLE Stamped by Jean-Henri Riesener In mahogany, mahogany veneer, ebony and boxwood stained wood fillets, chased and gilded bronze ornamentation, veined white marble top, the belt decorated with a frieze of canals and asparagus opening with three drawers, two of which have leaves, supported by pilaster jambs joined by a spandrel shelf encircled by an openwork gallery, the back panel and spandrel decorated with lozenges, the sheathed legs encircled by a ring decorated with jagged foliage, stamped J. H. RIESENER on both rear legs, printed label inscribed "CHRISTIE'S EA 733/34" below the waistband. H.92.5 cm (36 ½ in.) l.132 cm (52 in.) P.51.5 cm (20 ¼ in.) Jean-Henri Riesener, received master in 1768 Provenance : Former collection of E.G, A.K and B.J Milligan, Caldwell Hall, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire ; Christie's London sale, 24 November 1960, lot 103 (part of lot) (see Fig. 1); Christie's London sale, 9 May 1983, lot 109; Former collection of Mr and Mrs Franklin Groves; Their sale, Christie's New York, 15 October 1988, lot 114 (see Fig. 2); Former Kathleen and Martin Field collection; Sotheby's New York sale, 20 October 2018, lot 10 ; Acquired during the latter by the current owner. Bibliography: P. Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe siècle, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, p. 755, Fig. a (reproduced). A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted and mahogany console desserte, stamped by Jean-Henri Riesener This elegant console table, with its sober, architectural lines, is stamped by Jean-Henri Riesener, undoubtedly the most talented cabinet-maker of the Louis XVI period and the official supplier to the Crown's furniture repository from 1774. Stylistically dating from the mid-1780s, it was designed at a time when pieces of furniture specifically designed for dining rooms were still a relative novelty in French interiors, following English fashion and the historic trade treaty between London and Paris, which led to the popularity of mahogany in furniture. The diamond pattern marquetry with a double line of stained wood found on the back of our example was specifically introduced by Riesener in the mid 1780s and referred to at the time as "satiné gris". This finish can be found on a number of pieces made by this famous cabinetmaker for Queen Marie-Antoinette's flats in the Tuileries Palace in 1784, such as a cylinder desk now in the collections of the Louvre (inv. OA 5226) or a dressing table in the Petit Trianon (see D. Meyer, Le Mobilier de Versailles, Éditions Faton, Vol. I, p. 244-246) or a chest of drawers with the marks of the Petit Trianon illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Chêne, 1989, p. 382, Fig. 467. The bronze decoration on our sideboard, combining a frieze with a motif of canals and asparagus, an apron decorated with acanthus leaves ending in a pinecone and sabot feet with finely jagged acanthus leaves, is typical of Riesener's decorative repertoire. The same bronze ornamentation can be found on a chest of drawers dated circa 1785 with the marks of the Petit Trianon, illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ébénistes Français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Chêne, 1989, p. 382, Fig. 467, a commode delivered for Madame Elisabeth at Versailles in 1783 from the Detroit Institute of Arts (cfr. H. Jacobsen, Jean-Henri Riesener, Cabinet-maker to Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette, The Wallace Collection, p. 87 Fig. 77, another delivered for Queen Marie-Antoinette around 1785 and with the mark of the Queen's private Garde Meuble now in the Petit Trianon (cfr. P. Arizzoli Clementel, Le Mobilier de Versailles, Éditions Faton, Vol. II, p. 152-153), on a chest of drawers and a secretary with flap delivered for Marie-Antoinette around 1780 which are in the Frick collection in New York (cfr. T. Dell, Furniture in the Frick Collection, New York, 1992, pp. 71-90) or on a console table attributed to Riesener from the former Schlumberger collection (Sotheby's Monaco sale 26-27 February 1992, lot 45). Among the rare comparable serving consoles stamped or attributed to Riesener are the following: -The piece from the former collection of Viscountess Vigier (sale in Paris, Palais Galliera, 3 June 1970, lot 145) and now in the Petit Trianon in Versailles (see Fig. 3). -The unstamped piece also came from the former collection of the Milligan sisters and was sold as a pair with ours in the 1960 sale, then separated before being resold at Sotheby's New York on 31 October 1987, lot 133 (fig. 4). -The stamped console sold at Hôtel Drouot, Paris, 1 June 1949, lot 108 (fig. 5) -The stamped console from the former Dimitri Mavrommatis collection (Sotheby's London sale, 8 July 2008, lot 46), (fig. 6). -The stamped example sold at Christie's London, 13 November 2018, lot 334 (fig. 7).