Pour la reine - details of furniture made by Riesener for Marie Antoinette, now in the Wallace Collection

 

The oval bronze plaque is a later replacement - possibly even done by Riesener, himself - for the original marquetry medallion.

Like much of Riesener's work for Marie Antoinette, he has included her initials in the bronze doré frieze.

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Secrétaire à abattant (fall-front desk.) Altered by the addition of the gilt-bronze medallion - the original would have been in marquetry - and the rectangular plaque in the frieze, circa 1794–1825. Materials: Oak, purplewood, satiné, tulipwood, stained woods, burr wood, ebony or ebonised wood, box, gilt bronze, Carrara marble. Delivered in 1783 to the Petit Trianon, possibly for use in the queen's boudoir.

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Commode (chest of drawers.) Marquetry and central medallion removed and re-veneered, circa 1795–1815. Materials: Oak, mahogany, purplewood, ebony or ebonised wood, box, gilt bronze, brocatello marble (replacement). Delivered in 1782 to the château de Marly for the queen's newly redecorated bedroom. This and another were near copies of a commode that had been delivered to Marly the previous year. Of the other two, both retaining their original marquetry, one is in the Louvre and the other is at Versailles.

With its original marquetry intact, this nearly identical commode - one of the three - is in the collection of Versailles.

The commode is a feature of the restored décor of Marie Antoinette's cabinet intérieur or cabinet doré.

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Secrétaire à abattant. Marquetry removed and re-veneered and the central medallion added, circa 1794–1825. Materials: Oak, burr wood (probably yew), purplewood, stained woods, ebony or ebonized wood, box, gilt bronze, Carrara marble. Ordered for the queen's private rooms at the château de Marly, the desk and corner cabinet (along with a matching chest of drawers) were instead sent to Versailles in February 1783 and installed in her cabinet intérieur. They remained there less than a year before being sent to Marly as originally intended. But the queen rarely visited Marly and only three weeks later they were returned to Versailles where they were to be used in her new ground floor apartment.

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Encoignure (corner cabinet), en suite with the above desk. Marquetry removed and re-veneered circa 1794–1825. Materials: Oak, burr wood (probably yew), purplewood, stained woods, ebony or ebonized wood, box, gilt bronze, Carrara marble.

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Secrétaire à abattant. Materials: Oak, purplewood, satiné, tulipwood, stained woods, burr wood, ebony or ebonised wood, box, gilt bronze, Carrara marble. Delivered to Versailles on 8 July 1780, for use in the queen's cabinet intérieur. Not really to her taste, it was replaced after less than six months. It was put into storage, but a few years later it was installed in the king’s apartments at the château de Saint-Cloud.

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Commode. While it retains its original marquetry, the piece has been much disfigured by an addition at the bottom - to made it taller? - and an inferior replacement of the mount at center bottom. Materials: Oak, purplewood, satiné, stained woods, burr wood, ebony or ebonized wood, box, gilt bronze, vert des Alpes marble (replacement). This chest of drawers - in the newest style -  was delivered to Versailles in December 1780, where it graced the queen's newly refurbished cabinet intérieur. Only three years later, Riesener supplied a new suite of furniture for the room; later that same year he replaced that furniture with lacquer-mounted pieces.

Much of the marquetry decoration of eighteenth-century furniture was originally fairly colorful, a color that has faded markedly over time. A great variety of woods were used - their color both natural and dyed - and the combinations were chosen with consideration for the overall scheme of the settings for which the finished furniture was intended. This particular piece was specifically designed for its place in the queen's cabinet intérieur and it echoed the coloration of the newly-made embroidered silk wall hangings designed by Jacques Gondoin; the pastoral trophy at the center of the commode was created to match a similar passage in the wall fabric. Below is the Wallace Collection's imagined recreation/restoration of Riesener's commode in its original state, something which they based on traces of color that remain on the piece. While I believe that the color here may be just a bit more intense than it ever actually was, it's still a fascinating thing to ponder. Also something to ponder is whether the passage of time and the loss of all that color, like the loss of the polychrome of antique statuary and architecture, has been an improvement...?