Collection record · Objects & craft
Pair of Bookcases (Bibliothèques)
The collection record classifies this work as furniture and woodwork. It is dated c. 1720. Recorded culture or place: France.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Pair of Bookcases (Bibliothèques)
- Date
- c. 1720
- Culture / origin
- France
- Materials and technique
- kingwood and rosewood veneers, gilt metal mounts
- Dimensions
- Overall: 247.6 x 132.1 x 57.2 cm (97 1/2 x 52 x 22 1/2 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Charles Cressent (French, 1685–1768)
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1958.129
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · John L. Severance Fund · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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