Signed Louis XVI secretary by Pierre Pioniez. Rosewood and amaranth, veneered and inlaid with partially coloured woods. Straight, rectangular body, flanked by wide, angled corner pilaster strips, merging into canted feet. Two doors and a hinged work surface in the compartmentalised front. Behind this, staggered compartments with containers for ink and grit. Shallow drawer above. Wide framed diamond-shaped fields over the entire surface, bordered by ribbon inlays. Fire-gilt bronze applications. Stamp sig. P.PIONIEZ (becomes master 1765) and Parisian jury stamp JME. Profiled top plate of red-brown marble with grey-white veining, rest; h. 134 cm. 92 cm. x 35 cm. Pierre Pioniez, like his famous brother-in-law Roger Vandercruse and the ebenist Charles Topino, created Transitional and Louis XVI furniture with elaborate parquetry. Cf. Pradère, p. 321 and Kjellberg: pp. 655f. Provenance: from the liquidation of an important private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia. A signed French rosewood and amaranth veneered Louis XVI writing cabinet by Pierre Pioniez. Top restored. France. Paris. Circa 1770.