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Fall-Front Secretary on Stand

1784
Not on view
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.
With its harmony of Japanese-lacquer panels and gilt-bronze mounts, this elegant secretary would have been seen by few visitors; it stood in one of the king’s private rooms, his Cabinet Intérieur. The panels with shaped pictorial cartouches decorating the front are about 150 years older than the secretary itself. The maker cut them from the surface of a close stool (chamber pot) dating to about 1640, the reuse a testament to the continued appreciation of Japanese lacquer in Europe.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Fall-Front Secretary on Stand
  • Artist: Adam Weisweiler (French, 1744–1820)
  • Date: 1784
  • Culture: French
  • Medium: Oak, exterior veneered with ebony and Japanese lacquer, mother of pearl; gilt bronze; interior: sycamore and other marquetry woods, leather
  • Dimensions: 54 5/16 × 52 3/8 × 18 1/8 in., 330.7 lb. (138 × 133 × 46 cm, 150 kg)
  • Classification: Furniture
  • Credit Line: The Al Thani Collection (BELG022)
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts