Louis XVI mahogany console desserte, P. Roussel
Pierre Roussel (1745-1822)
short pierced brass gallery enclosing shaped marble top, over frieze with brass decoration and single drawer, on turned and fluted columns extending to tapered legs terminating in brass cups and casters, unified by marble medial shelf; upper block of right rear leg stamped: P Roussel.
H37 1/4" W58" D19"

Literature: Ledoux-Lebard, Denise. LES EBENISTES PARISIENS, LEURS OEUVRES ET LEURS MARQUES: 1795-1870. Paris: F. de Nobele, 1965.

Pradere, Alexandre. FRENCH FURNITURE MAKERS: THE ART OF THE EBENISTE FROM LOUIS XIV TO THE REVOLUTION. Malibu, CA: The J. Paul Getty Museum, 1989.

Other Notes: Pierre Roussel (1723-1782) was the most brilliant representative of a quite modest family of joiners: his father and his four younger brothers were journeymen in cabinetmaking. He acquired mastership very early (in 1745) and, after an initial period most likely full of difficulties, he reached a truly brilliant station. He exercised his trade in the rue de Charenton, opposite the rue Saint-Nicolas, at the sign of The Picture of Saint-Pierre, his patron saint. He worked in particular for the Prince of Conde, whom he supplied, for the Palais-Bourbon and Chantilly, with furniture of an approximate total value of $2,000.

Upon his death in 1782, his widow continued his business with the assistance of her sons, Pierre-Michel and Pierre II, called "the younger," both being masters. According to the custom of the masters' widows, she kept her husband's stamp, which was then used by Pierre-Michel and Pierre II.

Specimens bearing P. Roussel's mark are quite varied; Pierre Roussel, the father, created at first purely Louis XV furniture, then gradually turned to the Louis XVI style, utilized after him by his sons.