satiné Archives • Ébénisterie Mathieu Vath

Louis XVI secretary stamped Ohneberg

May 9, 2025October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathVeneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin, secretary, Louis XVI style, 18th century

This Louis XVI period secretary bears the stamp of Martin Ohneberg. A masterpiece of sobriety and refinement, it combines a solid wood frame with rosewood and a sumptuous satinwood veneer. Its sinuous, golden veins lend brilliance and depth. Furthermore, the ornamentation remains understated yet exquisite. Indeed, delicately floral, chased bronze frames accentuate the clean lines of the piece, typical of the Neoclassical style. Martin Ohneberg, of German origin, was active in Paris during the last decades of the […]

Flat Greek-style desk stamped DUBOIS

March 27, 2025October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, violet wood, Bronzes, Desk, polite, furniture restoration, satin, Louis XVI style, Transitional style, 18th century

One desk, one stamp, three cabinetmakers? This desk is a masterpiece of French cabinetmaking. It alone embodies the culmination of 18th-century Neoclassical taste. Yet, a question immediately arises: why three cabinetmakers for a single desk? In fact, the answer lies in a mixture of succession, talent, collaboration, and opportunism, typical of the craftsmanship of the period. This flat desk, known as a "Greek-style" desk, is a perfect example of the Louis XVI style. It combines marquetry of amaranth, satinwood, and other woods.

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 XVI Weekly Planner

November 15, 2024October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, rosewood, Louis XVI, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin

Restoration of a Louis XVI chest of drawers veneered in rosewood, satinwood, and amaranth. It opens with a series of seven drawers framed by rounded uprights with simulated fluting made of boxwood and blackened pearwood. A chest of drawers? The chest of drawers appeared in the mid-18th century. It was primarily intended for women. It is a chiffonier (which appeared during the Regency period, between 1715 and 1723) with seven drawers, one for each day of the week, for storing the day's undergarments. The restoration: This piece of furniture showed little […]

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 commode stamped NA Lapie

January 16, 2024October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, Vacuum bonding, convenient, Louis XV, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin, French polish, 18th century

Restoration of a Louis XV commode stamped Nicolas Alexandre Lapie, veneered in amaranth and satinwood. Its oak frame is of exceptionally high quality. However, the sides and drawer fronts are made of softwood. Finally, the top is a griotte marble from Campan. Nicolas Alexandre Lapie, son of Nicolas Lapie, a pottery merchant in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine, and brother of the master cabinetmaker Jean Lapie, Nicolas Alexandre (known as the Elder) appears to have been born around 1730. He registered his master's letters at the Châtelet in Paris on August 17, 1764. […]

Transitional cylinder secretary, stamped SCHLICHTIG

October 26, 2023October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathrosewood, Desk, cylinder desk, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin, Transitional style, Transition, French polish, 18th century

Restoration of a Transition period cylinder desk, stamped Jean-Georges Schlichtig. The legs and stretchers are oak. However, the panels and drop-front are softwood. It is rosewood veneered, with marquetry of bottomless cubes in rosewood and tobacco-stained sycamore. Furthermore, the Greek key stringing combines hornbeam and holly. The back and interior drawers are veneered in satinwood. Finally, this model is common in the work of this cabinetmaker, who produced several variations with bottomless cubes. The […]

Transitional chest of drawers stamped Léonard Boudin

March 31, 2023October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathconvenient, Veneering - Marquetry, satin, Transition, French polish, 18th century

Restoration of a Transition period commode stamped by the master cabinetmaker Léonard Boudin (1735 in Paris – 20/12/1807). It is constructed of solid oak and veneered with amaranth, rosewood, and ribbon satinwood (Brosimum rubescens). This South American wood owes its highly decorative appearance to the pronounced interlocked grain of its quarter-sawn construction. It belongs to the same family as snakewood (Brosimum guianense). Boudin was primarily a merchant during the Transition period. It is therefore likely that this commode is by the hand of André Louis Gilbert (1746-1809), when he was not yet […]

Small chest of drawers from La Rochelle

December 8, 2022October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathSolid Wood, convenient, furniture restoration, satin, 18th century

Here is the restoration of a small Louis XV commode, made of solid satinwood and ribboned satinwood. Curved on all sides, including the back, it opens with three drawers. In addition, a pull-out candle holder opens at the back. It comes from La Rochelle and dates from the 18th century. Its top, molded with a corbel-shaped edge highlighted by a cavetto molding, is made of ribboned satinwood. This wood is also used on the front and sides. In contrast, the base is made of straight-grain satinwood, with "snail" feet ending in split goat's hoof feet. [… ]

Coffee table stamped P.GARNIER JME

September 1, 2022October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathVeneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin, Transitional style, Transition, French polish

Restoration of a Transition period (1750-1774) salon table, veneered in satinwood and stamped by Pierre Garnier (circa 1726-1800). Originally from Paris, the son of master cabinetmaker François Garnier, Pierre Garnier obtained his master's certificate on December 31, 1742. Unlike his father, he left the Faubourg Saint-Antoine for the Rue Neuve-des-Petits-Champs, near the Place Vendôme. His clientele included merchants such as Léonard Boudin and Pierre Migeon, but above all, the wealthiest members of the kingdom. He thus fulfilled numerous commissions for Louis Georges Érasme, Marshal of France, and the Duchess of […]

Transition cylinder desk

May 22, 2021October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, rosewood, cylinder desk, Vacuum bonding, conservation, Marquetry, Veneering - Marquetry, furniture restoration, satin, secretary, Transition, 18th century

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of restoring this magnificent Transition period (1780) roll-top desk. Its frame is made of oak and fir. Most notably, it is veneered with rosewood, arranged in a butterfly pattern on the fall front. Around this, a delicate border of boxwood and green-stained hornbeam stringing is edged with a narrow band of amaranth. The back is veneered in satinwood. Finally, the central marquetry, on a tobacco-stained sycamore background, depicts musical instruments. Two doves are flying above, a musical score within […]

Transitional chest of drawers stamped LARDIN

April 20, 2021October 27, 2026 Mathieu Vathamaranth, rosewood, Vacuum bonding, convenient, conservation, graft, LARDIN, Veneering - Marquetry, sawn veneer, furniture restoration, satin, Transition

Restoration of a Transition period commode, constructed of fir and oak and veneered with rosewood. It is framed by hornbeam stringing, white and green-stained, with a satinwood band edged in amaranth. The central medallion is made of satinwood veneer assembled in a herringbone pattern. The maker's mark and the JME (Journée des Métiers d'Art) are located at the base of the left rear leg. André-Antoine Lardin (1724 – August 10, 1790) obtained his master craftsman's certificate on July 1, 1750. He established himself on the rue de Charenton, at the sign "Au Bois de Boulogne," and worked there until 1770. He then moved […]

Regency chest of drawers stamped J.BIRCKLE

November 27, 2020October 27, 2026 Mathieu VathBronzes, convenient, Rio Rosewood, Veneering - Marquetry, restoration, furniture restoration, satin, French polish

Restoration of a chest of drawers veneered in Rio rosewood, with satinwood stringing. It opens with two large drawers and, in the upper section, two smaller ones. Its frame is made of oak and fir. It also bears the stamp J.BIRCKLE and the JME hallmark on the left upright. Finally, there are some traces of restoration and an ink mark on one side of a drawer. Jacques Bircklé (1734-1803) – Cabinetmaker – master craftsman obtained on July 30, 1764. One of the suppliers to the Royal Furniture Repository under Louis XVI. Free craftsman […]