Knee-hole writing table

The decoration of this piece is an example of the fascination with the arts and luxury products of Asia, which became popular in France at the end of the 17th century and continued throughout the 18th century. It incorporates brass marquetry decoration in a Western style, which adapted motifs from Asian lacquer and porcelain. In the 19th century, this decorative style became known as ‘chinoiserie’. Here, the birds, trees, buildings and costumes of the figures appear to have been taken from European pattern books that circulated in Europe for craftspeople to use. The marquetry panel on the lid shows a fox hunting scene by a pool, the water represented by mother-of-pearl. Other scenes on the casket also include mother-of-pearl representations of water. The background to the scenes is provided by turtleshell, the glossy dark qualities of which were used in an attempt to mimic the sheen of Asian lacquer. The casket remains, however, firmly a European object and would never have been mistaken for anything imported from Asia. The style of the marquetry has led to the suggestion that it was made in one of the South German centres of Boulle marquetry, but the similarity between this and the marquetry top of a French writing table in the Wallace Collection (F58) proves otherwise. The table, and thus the casket, are now tentatively attributed to Bernard I van Risenburgh (1660–1738), a cabinetmaker of Netherlandish origin, who settled in Paris some time before 1696 and became a master cabinetmaker in the city.