The Musee des Arts Decoratifs collections acquire an outstanding chest of drawers (French Regency period chest of drawers)

The Musee des Arts Decoratifs collections have acquired a French Regency period chest of drawers of outstanding dimensions and provenance. Declared a National Treasure in 2004, the chest of drawers is almost three metres long and has a red Rance marble top. In all likelihood it was made for Marie-Anne de Bourbon, Princess de Conti before 1739. She may well have ordered it for the Parisian mansion into which she had moved in 1715 and which she later commissioned the architect Robert de Cotte to extend in 1724. However, the maker of this intricately crafted piece of furniture has not yet been identified although it was certainly one of the greatest early 18(th)-century Parisian cabinetmakers, a contemporary of Antoine-Robert Gaudreaus and of Charles Cressent.