Salon Table Or Chiffonnière Louis XV Period By François Bayer

Coffee table or chest of drawers in floral marquetry of rosewood and violet wood. It opens with three curved drawers on the front with gilded bronze wrists. It rests on four arched legs finished with gilded bronze hooves joined by a crotch tablet Stamped on a crosspiece F.BAYER BAYER François François Bayer. Cabinetmaker-marketer in Paris. Originally from Germany, he was received as a master cabinetmaker in Paris on December 5, 1764. Specialized in the manufacture of marquetry furniture (his shaded marquetry is renowned) he settled for ten years in rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine then moved to rue Saint- Honoré, hoping to find a more brilliant situation in this district. But his dream was disappointed, lacking capital and overwhelmed with debts, he suffered two bankruptcies in quick succession in 1780 and 1781 and had to sell his business. Bayer then ceased his job as a cabinetmaker to devote himself, helped by his wife, to restoration and lived in poverty until 1785, when his trace was lost. The best pieces marked with his stamp date from the end of the reign of Louis XV. His production includes small writing tables, kidney tables, dressing tables, chests of drawers inlaid with flowers and attributes as well as hunting scenes.