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A fine Louis XVI mahogany salon table by Charles Erdman Richter, stamped G. RICHTER, the square white marble top with a pierced brass gallery above two frieze drawers, each with a foliate escutcheon, the sides with a leather-lined slide with a ring pull, the angles with rectangular blocks above columnar fluted legs headed by a gilded band on turned caps and castors
Paris, date circa 1785
Height 76 cm, width 75 cm, depth 75 cm.
The strong Neo-classical lines, the restrained use of gilt mounts and the use of high quality mahogany are all marks of the work of the German born ébéniste Charles Erdman Richter (1745-1829). Richter who was born at Saxe, Schmeideberg was living in Paris in 1781, the year in which he was married. Like other contemporary Protestants his wedding service was held at the Swedish Embassy in Paris. And like other ébénistes Richter settled in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine region; he had a workshop in rue Moreau but then later moved to rue Traversière where he remained until 1821.
His production included a wide range of furniture from secrétaires, consoles, and bureaux à cylinder to guéridons and various types of tables. The majority of his furniture was worked in mahogany with restrained gilt bronze mounts such as a small Louis XVI meuble d’appui with double doors, which is now housed in the Jones Collection, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. In addition to such decoration he also produced pieces with fine marquetry, such as a Louis XVI secrétaire inlaid with panels featuring a vase of flowers and floral bouquets, (illustrated in Pierre Kjellberg, “Le Mobilier Français de XVIIIe Siècleâ€, 1989, p. 693). With an illustrious clientele, his patrons included Monsieur (Louis XVI’s brother, who in 1814 was crowned Louis XVIII) as well as the Garde-Meuble Impérial in 1811. In addition Richter often supplied fellow ébénistes with certain pieces, most notably Jean-Gotlieb Frost, the pupil and successor to the renowned ébéniste David Roentgen.
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