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Guillaume Beneman, cabinetmaker

Drop-Front Secretary (Secrétaire à Abattant), ca. 1800-1810

Now On View

Description

Maker

Title

Drop-Front Secretary (Secrétaire à Abattant)

Year

ca. 1800-1810

Medium

Mahogany and oak with brass and gilded bronze mounts, embossed leather, marble top

Materials/Techniques

Materials

Dimensions

143.5 x 114.3 x 42.6 cm (56 1/2 x 45 x 16 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Stamped in upper right case side, near top of main case: Guillaume Beneman

Place

France

Type

Credit

Helen M. Danforth Acquisition Fund

Object Number

80.106

Projects & Publications

Publications

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

European Galleries

The restrained symmetrical form of this French secretary is embellished with mounts and ornamentation influenced by Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign. Figural supports wear headdresses known as nemes while lions and fairy-like figures in gilded bronze highlight expansive areas of mahogany. The secretary’s front panel opens to form a writing surface, revealing the interior’s drawers and shelves, while the lower doors conceal six drawers. This piece carries four stamps by Guillaume Beneman, who served as master cabinetmaker to the French crown from 1784 to 1792 and continued to work successfully after the French Revolution.

Use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use. This object is in the public domain (CC0 1.0). This object is Drop-Front Secretary (Secrétaire à Abattant) with the accession number of 80.106. To request high-resolution files or new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.