A Louis XV period marquetry chest of drawers with fruitwood and ivory, amaranth and rosewood veneer, circa 1770, stamped I.G. SCHLICHTIG. The decoration consists of Chinese figures and trophies of arms. The ornamentation is in gilt bronze and the top in veined white marble.
Height : 85,5 cm / Width : 140 cm / Depth : 60 cm

The fashion for furniture inlaid with architectural decorations spread in the 1770s, at the same time as the neoclassical trend developed. Cabinetmakers continued to draw their models from the engravings of ornamentalists, but the inspiration followed a broader register in accordance with the return of the taste for the antique. Architectures, ruins, port scenes, trophies and vases complete the floral and foliage motifs.

Historical references:
Of German origin, Schlichtig obtained his master’s degree in 1765 and settled in rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine and then rue Saint Nicolas. A talented maker, he distinguished himself in the art of cabinet making and worked for Queen Marie Antoinette. His furniture, mainly Transition and Louis XVI, was classical, with rosewood veneer in butterfly wings, usually framed with violet or amaranth wood.
Some of the more elaborately crafted pieces were inlaid with sprays of flowers or trophies. On the whole, the work left by this skilled cabinetmaker is often original and of high quality. After his death in 1782, his wife continued his workshop and his activity until 1787.

Pieces in the Museums:
Tomb chest of drawers – Musée de Beauvais
Small Louis XV table – Champs-sur-Marne Castle
Louis XVI chest of drawers – Musée Carnavalet – Paris
Transitional commode – Musée du Louvre – Paris
(A commode, circa 1775, stamped by Jean-Georges Schlichtig, bequeathed to the
the Louvre by Count Isaac de Camondo, from the famous collection of Baron Double
collection of Baron Double (sale May 1881), (1) bearing the figure of Marie-Antoinette
of Marie-Antoinette (see illustration below)
Louis XVI pedestal table – Cleveland Museum of Art