Louis XVI marquetry secrétaire à abbatant signed M B Evald. The secrétaire with boldly chamfered corners, is finely veneered on the abbatant with elaborate scrolling ribbons and flowers framing an oval composed of rustic implements framing a spray of flowers. Each of the two doors below is marquetried with ribbons and flowers surrounding a rustic trophy. The sides are veneered with vases based on a circa 1765 engraving by Maurice Jacques. Each of the chamfers is veneered with rustic trophies and a smaller version of the Jacques vase on a remarkable green ground. The frieze is veneered with a simulated balustrade on the same vivid green ground. The original white marble top is supported by a well chased ormoulu band decorated with shells separated by “S”-form motifs.
Behind the abattant is a nest of six drawers and behind the doors are two drawers and a strongbox. [Repaired splits.]
A very similar secrétaire is in the National Trust’s Saltram House in Devon, England. Both it and the Jacques engraving are illustrated in Svend Eriksen: Early Neoclassicism in France; Faber & Faber, London, 1974, Figure 140 and Figure 192.
Maurice Bernard Evald was of German origin and worked for many notables in Paris, his most famous work being the lost jewel cabinet ordered by Louis XV for Marie-Antoinette
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