Despite the disadvantages of foreign birth, Jean-François Oeben pursued an important career as a royal cabinetmaker in France. The son of a Catholic postmaster, Oeben was born in Germany but emigrated to Paris in the 1740s. After marrying the sister of another *ébéniste,* he was given the prestigious title of *ébéniste du roi* (Cabinetmaker to the King) and obtained lodgings and a workshop at the
