Male Narrator J. Paul Getty initially thought of furniture and floor coverings merely as utilitarian objects. Eventually, he began to study them more carefully. He confessed, “The more I learned, the more I was drawn to eighteenth-century French furniture.”
[classical piano]
This mechanical table is a wonderful example of the kind of artistry and ingenuity that attracted Getty. Its surface bears floral and geometric designs while delicate gilt-bronze mounts protect and accentuate its overall form. The elaborate exterior conceals the inner gears, springs, and latches that allow the table to open up into a desk for reading and writing or a toilette table for dressing. Its maker, Jean-François Oeben, specialized in producing furniture with intricate moving parts for the royal family and aristocracy.
The normally cautious Getty bought the table on impulse in 1949. After World War II, Getty was able to acquire many remarkable objects at reasonable prices. He wrote at the time, “I don’t care to pay unrealistic prices for anything in life. A collector doesn’t have to be impractical. He can appreciate art and revel in its beauty, yet still want to invest his money wisely.”
