Placage - Marqueterie Archives • Ébénisterie Mathieu Vath

Empire Desk

September 27, 2025October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathmahogany, Empire, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, 19th century

Restoration of an Empire period desk, veneered in mahogany burl on an oak frame. Its four "chimera thigh" legs are connected by stretchers. They terminate in lion's paw feet. The Empire style emerged at the beginning of the 19th century, under Napoleon I. Indeed, the Emperor desired a new, grandiose aesthetic, befitting his power. Heir to Neoclassicism, this style drew inspiration from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquity. The excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum inspired it, as did the Egyptian campaign. This […]

Art Deco Desk

June 4, 2025October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathArt Deco, Macassar ebony, Veneering - Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, 20th century

Restoration complete for this desk veneered in Macassar ebony (Diospyros celebica). Native to Indonesia, it is also known as golden ebony or Coromandel wood. Long used in construction in Japan, this tree can reach forty meters in height. Its name comes from the port of Makassar, from where the logs were exported.

Regency chest of drawers

March 6, 2025October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, convenient, Veneering - Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, regency, furniture restoration, satin

Restoration of a bombé commode, veneered in satinwood with double boxwood stringing within amaranth borders. The frame is fir and the drawer units are walnut. It opens with four drawers in three rows. Its finely chased bronze mounts are silvered, not gilded as is customary. The uprights are veneered with a facsimile of brass fluting. The sides, decorated with a lozenge inscribed within a rectangle, echo the decorative motif of the front veneer. It is topped with a green Campan marble slab […]

Louis XV commode by JB Fromageau

December 14, 2024October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathrosewood, violet wood, convenient, Louis XV, Veneering - Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, 18th century

Restoration of a Louis XV commode stamped Jean-Baptiste Fromageau. Its frame is made of oak and softwood. It is inlaid with rosewood within violet wood borders. Curved at the front and flared at the sides, it opens with four drawers in three rows. Finally, a gray Sainte-Anne marble top crowns it. Jean-Baptiste Fromageau, son of a master cabinetmaker, was born around 1725. Admitted as a master on November 5, 1755, he first established himself on Rue Traversière, then on Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Antoine. Moreover, the Dauphin almanac lists his workshop among the most important in Paris. Cabinetmaker, […]

Art Nouveau desk with Primroses by Louis Majorelle

October 4, 2024October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathArt Nouveau, Desk, Veneering - Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration

Restoration of an Art Nouveau desk stamped by Louis Majorelle, made in Nancy around 1905. Crafted from solid walnut, it is decorated with primrose marquetry. The work involved replacing some missing veneer, cleaning the piece, and restoring its waxed finish. Louis Majorelle was born in September 1859 in Toul and died in January 1926 in Nancy, at the age of 66. Son of the renowned furniture maker Auguste Majorelle, he developed an early interest in craftsmanship and drawing. He then entered the École des Beaux-Arts in Nancy, […]

Regency style commode stamped Hédouin

September 19, 2024October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, Vacuum bonding, convenient, HEDOUIN, Veneering - Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, sawn veneer, regency, furniture restoration, satin

Here is the latest restoration by Raphaël, my apprentice. This commode has all the attributes of a Regency commode. Yet, Hédouin could only have made it well after this period (around 1715-1723). Indeed, he obtained his master craftsman's certificate in 1738, right in the middle of the Louis XV era. It is therefore more accurately described as a commode "in the Regency style," as cabinetmakers of the time called it. Moreover, its frame is entirely oak, except for the back panels, and its veneer combines amaranth and satinwood. Jean-Baptiste HEDOUIN The life of Jean-Baptiste Hédouin remains […]

Louis XV/Transition Commode by Nicolas Abraham Couleru

August 25, 2021October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, rosewood, Vacuum bonding, convenient, Louis XVI, Rio Rosewood, Veneering - Marquetry, sawn veneer, polite, furniture restoration

This slightly curved commode opens with three drawers. It is veneered with bottomless cubes of walnut, plum, and cherry wood. Its top is inlaid with a bouquet of flowers on an amaranth ground. Plum, or damson, is easily recognizable by its sapwood demarcations: these create a lighter pattern and give the decoration an irregular appearance. The frame is made of fir and walnut. It is difficult to assign this commode to a specific style. It is Louis XV, but the simplicity of its stringing and the marquetry framing clearly suggests […]