Chest of drawers with sliding doors

Although the overall shape is that of a chest of drawers, the design of this piece is highly original. Below three frieze drawers, two slatted doors slide open to reveal four more drawers. The central panel has a marquetry decoration showing a bouquet of flowers on a plain background, reflecting the influence of Jean-François Oeben, to whom Riesener was apprenticed. The side panels are decorated with a marquetry design of interlocking diamonds. The hipped uprights ending in foliate consoles and the gilt bronze acanthus feet recall the very classical, more personal style developed by Riesener around 1780. Nothing is known of the origin of this chest of drawers, which Moïse de Camondo purchased in 1909 from the antiques dealer Georges Wildenstein. It was probably commissioned from Riesener for a specific purpose.