Drop-front secretary (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en armoire)

Guillaume Benneman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This secretary was made for the Cabinet Intérieur of Louis XVI at the Palais de Compiègne. The cabinetwork was executed under the supervision of Guillaume Beneman (master 1785). The gilt-bronze mounts were modeled by Louis-Simon Boizot (1743-1809), Martin, and Michaud; cast by Forestier; chased by Pierre-Philippe Thomire (1751-1843), Bardier, and Tournay, among others; and gilded by Galle. Work on the secretary was coordinated by Jean Hauré, entrepreneur des Meubles de la Couronne (active 1774-96). The "eyes" of the marquetry were originally set with gilt-bronze rosettes.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art