Description
Transition Chest of drawers in fruitwood and ivory marquetry, amaranth veneer and rosewood from the Transition period. The decor consists of Chinese characters and weapon trophies. The ornamentation in gilded bronze and the top in veined white marble. Work around 1770, stamped IG SCHLICHTIG. Of German origin, Jean-Georges Schlichtig obtained his master’s degree on October 2, 1765 and settled in rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine then rue Saint Nicolas. A talented marquetry artist, he distinguished himself in artistic cabinetmaking and worked for Queen Marie Antoinette. His furniture, mainly Transition and Louis XVI, classical, was in rosewood veneer arranged in butterfly wings, usually framed in violet or amaranth wood. Some works, worked more meticulously, were inlaid with wreaths of flowers or trophies. On the whole, the fabrications left by this skilful cabinetmaker often remain original and of high quality. After his death in February 1782, his wife kept his workshop and his activity until 1787. Dimensions: 85.5 cm H x 140 cm W x 60 cm D The fashion for furniture inlaid with architectural decorations extends into the 1770s, at the same time as the neoclassical movement developed. The cabinetmakers continue to draw their models from engravings by ornamentalists, but the inspiration follows a broader register in keeping with the return of the taste for the antique. Architectures, ruins, port scenes, trophies, vases complete the flower and foliage motifs.