Louis XV de Choisy's chest of drawers at the Palace of Versailles
This chest of drawers intended for the bedroom of King Louis XV at the Château de Choisy, was completed in 1744 by Antoine-Robert Gaudreaus, cabinetmaker of the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne from 1726 until his death in 1746.
The Choisy chest of drawers is adorned with gilded bronzes of a unique design - an interlacing of reed leaves and rushes, marvelously emphasizing the black and gold decoration, coming from leaves of Japanese lacquer screens from Louis XIV's collections. It was the Parisian merchant-haberdasher Hébert who was responsible for preparing the lacquer panels intended to be placed on the frame of the cabinet maker Gaudreaus.
The piece of furniture follows a first chest of drawers delivered by the same cabinetmaker for Louis XV's bedroom in 1739 in Versailles (now in the Wallace Collection in London)
It was restored by our teams before its arrival at the Palace of Versailles (donated by the Edmond J. Safra Foundation in 2014) where it is exhibited today in Madame Victoire's bedroom.
The restoration of these lacquers was thus able to restore this royal piece of furniture to its sumptuous shine.