Writing Table

Getty Museum

Writing Table

Creator

Bernard II van Risenburgh

French Artist · 1696–1766

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The four mysterious initials of the stamp B.V.R.B. concealed a dynasty of *ébénistes* of Netherlandish origin whose identity was only uncovered in 1957. Although all used the same Christian name and surname, Bernard II van Risenburgh was the first to stamp his furniture using the monogram *BVRB* ; he is now regarded as the greatest *ébéniste* of the reign of Louis XV. BVRB specialized in furniture

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Object Description · Getty Museum

This table addressed all the writing needs of a wealthy French citizen in the mid 1700s. It has a writing slide, lined with green leather, that pulls out from the front and two smaller flat surfaces that slide out, one from each side, for holding candlesticks. It also contains two locking drawers opening from the sides of the table, one of which is compartmentalized for storing writing implements. Stylized representations of flowers, leaves, stems, and tendrils decorate the tabletop, the slide-out writing surface, and the sides of the table. The technique used to make these images, called marquetry, involved cutting thin pieces of different woods into various shapes and applying them to the surfaces of a piece of furniture in order to create a decorative veneer. This process was labor intensive and required great skill. The woods used for marquetry designs made in France during the 1700s were usually from trees not native to Europe, so they had to be shipped long distances. For example, the kingwood used to create the floral designs on this table would have been imported from South America. This expense, along with that for the gilt-bronze mounts decorating the edges of the table, made furniture like this unattainable except for the wealthy.

Getty Museum’s catalogue record

produced_by.carried_out_by[0].id
https://data.getty.edu/museum/collection/person/8794dbfd-18d0-42fa-b2c4-7ebe080f7ea2
Artist/Maker
Bernard II van Risenburgh
subject_of[Homepage].id
https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103SC8
Date
about 1755
Medium
White oak and fir veneered with amaranth, kingwood, and tulipwood; drawers of mahogany and white oak; gilt-bronze mounts; brass and iron locks; replacement leather writing surface
Culture
French
Object Type
Furniture

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Open this page QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.uyJqPx0wAOwJJ9aL.kCWvwNkmTLR1RzICGahMvTiqhxgYK6oO9vi_dQfHf2U96AiQQZlmAOj1xQKkxHZVyG7H_5rspblsqeiHT7Q5JmVtBwH8Ue8pjSE2cGcuRg7-6sL9YNxVxbBxDYGk7GQCdIUtXkvK6kad0iGOJCqcw5MHqWU0eYHiphzeIMPUDdEGJ5svIb3NRrbpBzI3WHNABmvDG4eMsFyCd2Iq_yxgyh7U7fz1zO9LY36XxvTAgX2ojvTCa_8OEIQbjINVkBxruRKCItS51t2mtGHMbB-FKi8pAYzfTNRun2buDZpo5XIDXGXLCXDZYWzWACJIVpbMj47gdCgo-W8VVfoz4xmQZE7xAOKPBKgr-9Oxr0YW7BeWCadTjsQd8wPJcU_HgeoDaWeextIVYaUzc0gDjwycSee at Getty Museum QR destination: https://linkedculture.org/q/q1.nPeSfnsquppoc3Fk.u4vdrZ0L3QOrOr8CKqgmaRJN-GYONYK7vAs72JMAwfAXO_JbmoN2HHmiHT4saPaHOUt_I13JUo8z9zxooGmhV8HnpS1ui7kbhhqvwh5I6YikPeY7GOLk8aLhVIYx6spFiKQdBYRTARWMAhKU3ue3ZmOyZwdqZoc3h6vYkG62zvyYnaUzDTpwG7RUU3sv3dbA0k1MKjr8FzTsPhPIw2aJDcEMmr5eBGyGZute1i3krXoYsSZhm3ADOQnTZcaoup9quyvDvbeBl-h8TXORusy4UyeA0AMT-xoRMbnUzhlzbNNz1gk4awHjkqZdrQM-7e46oPYWKouu74GGZLio061ITTH6j0U81BWNKv8HO9sUEHTf6Jka9UidEmE1fis
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Object ID
1ef17fa2-3c36-4119-b2bd-5ab3ab6a5286
Object Type
Furniture
  • Getty Museum field “Object Type” · copied as is
Creator
Bernard II van Risenburgh
  • Getty Museum field “Artist/Maker” · copied as is
Culture
French
  • Getty Museum field “Culture” · copied as is
Medium
White oak and fir veneered with amaranth, kingwood, and tulipwood; drawers of mahogany and white oak; gilt-bronze mounts; brass and iron locks; replacement leather writing surface
  • Getty Museum field “Medium” · copied as is
Department
Decorative Arts
  • Getty Museum field “Department” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field · Getty's classification category is stored as department.
Credit Line
Gift of J. Paul Getty
  • Getty Museum field “Standard Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
  • Getty Museum field “Source Credit Line” · the first available of several museum fields
Date
about 1755
  • Getty Museum field “Date” · copied as is
Begin Year
1755
  • Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.begin_of_the_begin” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field
End Year
1755
  • Getty Museum field “produced_by.timespan.end_of_the_end” · derived by LinkedCulture from the museum field

The museum’s own record has not been captured for this object yet, so the museum fields shown above are limited to values LinkedCulture stored unchanged.

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