Pair of Bookcases (Bibliothèques)
attributed to Charles Cressent (French, 1685–1768)
c. 1720
- Medium
- kingwood and rosewood veneers, gilt metal mounts
- Classification
- Furniture and woodwork
- Dimensions
- Overall: 247.6 x 132.1 x 57.2 cm (97 1/2 x 52 x 22 1/2 in.)
- Culture
- France
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Decorative Art and Design
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its museum says too little about what it shows to place it for younger viewers. How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
One of the obligations of a wealthy existence in the early 1700s was an interest in reading, or at least the impression of developing such an interest. Large bookcases such as these helped in that pursuit as they kept elaborately leather-bound books neatly behind a screen. The broad panels of marquetry and gilt-bronze mounts below suggest that the overall decorative scheme of figures symbolizing Geography and Commerce was perhaps more prominent than the rich intellectual holdings within.
