Jean-François Oeben maître in 1761.

Beautifully proportioned for a small appartement privé or possibly for a child, this secrétaire à abattant is decorated with the elegant cube parquetry which is so characteristic for Oeben's oeuvre and described in the 1763 inventory of his stock as 'plaqué à dés', combining tulipwood, kingwood and green-stained sycamore and - as in the present case- a border of amaranth bands.

JEAN-FRANÇOIS OEBEN

An ouvrier libre in July 1749 when he married Françoise-Marguerite van der Cruse, sister of Roger van der Cruse (R.V.L.C.), Oeben rapidly gained popularity and on 1 December 1751, he signed a contrat d'apprentissage with Charles-Joseph Boulle. He was in fact already trained and rented part of the workshop and lodgings in the Louvre occupied by Charles-Joseph, one of the sons of André-Charles Boulle, and, from 1752, delivered furniture through Lazare Duvaux to the marquise de Pompadour. When Charles-Joseph Boulle died in October 1754, the marquise de Pompadour must have intervened on Oeben's behalf in order to obtain for him the title of ébéniste-mécanicien du Roi and a lodging in the manufacture des Gobelins, which he was granted on 15 December 1754. Oeben received numerous royal commissions throughout his career, the most significant of which was for the King's cylindre bureau at Versailles, began in 1760 but completed and delivered after his death by Riesener in 1769.

THE GOÛT GREC

The elegant rectilinear form, Greek key borders to the parquetry panels and fluted uprights on this secrétaire demonstrate perfectly the revival of Classical motifs and forms of the 'goût nouveau', as it was described in the inventory of Oeben's stock following his death. This new style, also called le goût Grec, was introduced in the mid-1750s by the architect Louis-Joseph Le Lorrain. Probably working in collaboration with a marchand-mercier such as Simon-Philippe Poirier, Le Lorrain's goût Grec style was first expressed in the designs for the celebrated suite of furniture supplied for the Parisian hôtel of the amateur Ange-Laurent Lalive de Jully circa 1775. The style strongly revived Classical motifs such as those found on this secrétaire, and from the mid-1750s, Oeben became the major supplier of furniture in the 'new style' for Madame de Pompadour, a significant achievement as she was one of the primary arbiters of taste during the period.