Jean-Henri Riesener online talks

Official cabinetmaker to King Louis XVI and a favourite of Queen Marie-Antoinette, Riesener was also a phenomenon in the history of British art collecting, becoming a byword in the 19th century for all that was admired in French furniture. In this series hear speakers from The Wallace Collection, Royal Collection and Waddesdon Manor discuss Riesener’s life and creations.

Presented by The Wallace Collection in collaboration with the Furniture History Society, this series is part of the programme marking the end of a collaborative research project between Waddesdon, the Wallace Collection and The Royal Collection Trust.

Creating a market: dealers, auctioneers and the passion for Riesener furniture, 1800 – 1882

Date: Mon 30 Nov 2020, 5.30-7pm
Speaker: Dr Helen Jacobsen (Curator of French 18th-century Decorative Arts, the Wallace Collection)

This talk will analyze the rise of Riesener’s celebrity and the dealers who made it happen. It will discuss the sales techniques of the early nineteenth-century auctioneers, the role played by connoisseurs and the democratization of Riesener furniture through the market for copies and reproductions.

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Mémoires for the Garde-Meuble: Riesener’s perspective on royal furniture

Date: Mon 14 Dec 2020, 5.30-7pm
Speaker: Alexander Collins (former Riesener Project Leverhulme Fellow, the Wallace Collection)

Riesener was court cabinetmaker for over ten years, supplying over 700 pieces to the French royal household. The final talk will explore invoices for pieces of royal furniture at Waddesdon Manor and the Royal Collection. They will tell us more about Riesener’s design and workshop processes, as well as the challenges he encountered during exceptionally ambitious projects.

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