Enfilade

Now on at The Wallace:

Reproducing the 18th Century: Copying French Furniture
The Wallace Collection, London, 10 March — 29 August 2014

Secretaire, Pierre-Antoine Foullet, c.1777
(London: The Wallace Collection)

In the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, many of the best pieces of 18th-century French furniture were copied by skilled cabinet-makers in Paris and London. Rather than being dismissed as mere ‘reproductions’, these copies were of great quality and were highly prized by their owners.

In this display in the Conservation Gallery, the Wallace Collection’s desk by Pierre-Antoine Foullet (circa 1777) is compared with one such copy, kindly lent by Butchoff Antiques, enabling visitors to compare the construction techniques and finishes of two different periods of cabinet making.

Much more information is available at The Wallace Collection’s blog»