After Jean Henri Riesner

Anteroom clock Louis XV style, after JEAN HENRI RIESENER (France, 1734-1806). France, Napoleon III, second half of the 19th century.
Rosewood, mahogany wood, fruitwood and boxwood filleting. Fine gold gilt bronze and silvered bronze. Sides in geometric marquetry.
Porcelain dial.
It does not keep the pendulum.
Measurements: 220 x 60 x 30 cm.

The splendid anteroom clock that we now present faithfully follows the famous model attributed to the Parisian cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806), executed in 1785 and now preserved in the Louvre Museum (inv. OA 5501). It is a Louis XVI clock, typical of the Riesener style, whose inverted truncated pyramid-shaped pedestal rests on silvered bronze feet. The front of the panel is decorated with bas-reliefs of foliage, cups and classical characters, while the sides are inlaid with checkerboard marquetry. Each corner of the pedestal is mounted with silver acanthus leaf decorations and there is a panel of intertwined flowers on each side. The top of the pedestal features a radiate representation of Apollo's face on its front. The clock case continues the stylistic guidelines of the pedestal, with fine gilt mounts showing three cherubs on clouds surrounding the clock face, done in white enamel with black Roman numerals. These cherubs hold between them a garland of roses.
Considered the most celebrated cabinetmaker of the 18th century, Jean-Henri Riesener's work exemplified the early neoclassical "Louis XVI style". Despite his German origin, at the age of 20 he moved to Paris, where he was apprenticed to Jean-François Oeben. He was received as a master ébéniste in January 1768. The following year he began supplying furniture for the Crown and in July 1774 he formally became "ébéniste ordinaire du roi". His creations had a finer finish than those of many of his Parisian contemporaries, and he attempted to disguise the heads of the screws that held his mounts with hanging details of foliage. Even during his lifetime he was a successful cabinetmaker and was responsible for some of the richest examples of Louis XVI furniture. Among his most select clientele were Marie Antoinette, the Count and Countess of Provence, the Count d'Artois and the Dukes of Penthièvre, de la Rochefoucauld, Choiseul-Praslin. The expectation it has aroused over the years has led curators and conservators to initiate a research project on his works. A close examination of the thirty pieces of Riesener furniture from the three collections, along with art historical and archival research, revealed much that was previously unknown about the materials and techniques the cabinetmaker used, as well as his workshop practices. The Project also explored the development of Riesener's furniture market in the 19th century and the influence his designs and cabinetmaking techniques had on later furniture makers.