A Louis XVI Gilt Brass Mounted Mahogany and Ebony Table à la Tronchin by Jean-Henri Riesener, Circa 1785

German Private Collection;

Christie's London, 6 July 2016, lot 62;

Where acquired by the present collector.

The German-born Jean-Henri Riesener was arguably the most important Parisian cabinetmaker of the Louis XVI era, appointed ébéniste ordinaire du mobilier de la Couronne in 1774 and serving for over ten years as the primary supplier to the King, Marie-Antoinette and members of the Court for their interiors at the royal châteaux of Versailles, Saint-Cloud, Fontainebleau and the Trianon. Although renowned for producing luxurious case furniture with elaborate gilt bronze mounts and mechanical fittings and richly ornamented with costly marquetry or Japanese lacquer, Riesener's workshop also produced a large quantity of smaller tables and functional items of elegant construction with high quality, beautifully-figured mahogany veneers and more discreet hardware, reflecting a shift in taste from the mid-1780s to a more restrained decorative repertory, in part influenced by contemporary English design.

This French version of an architect's table with a hinged ratchetted writing and drawing surface was often called a table à la tronchin, named after the prominent Geneva physician Théodore Tronchin (1709-1781), a contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie who advocated working at a table with an adjustable writing surface that could even be used whilst standing as a way of improving posture and avoiding ailments of the bones and joints. The model became popular in the late Louis XVI and Directoire periods. A similar architect's table stamped by Riesener and the cabinetmaker Denis-Louis Ancellet (probably as a sub-contractor), was sold Sotheby's New York, 24 October 2019, lot 685.