[classical piano]
Male Narrator Called a double desk because of the drop-down panels on either side, the inventive form and superlative execution make this one of the greatest pieces of eighteenth-century French decorative arts in J. Paul Getty’s collection. It is the work of renowned furniture maker Bernard van Risenburgh. The double-sided design is unique, as are the gilded bronze mounts.
Van Risenburgh was the only one of a family dynasty of great furniture makers to stamp his work with his initials, BVRB. He worked exclusively with important dealers, who then sold the pieces directly to aristocratic and royal clientele. Because van Risenburgh had no direct contact with his customers, he remained anonymous. Before van Risenburgh’s identity was discovered in 1957, Getty purchased the desk strictly on the basis of its beauty and quality.
After missing an opportunity to purchase the desk from the Duke of Argyll in 1950, Getty tracked it down in New York two years later. With the delay came an increased price. Getty later declared in his autobiography that “some acquisitions are a triumph no matter what the price.”
