A LOUIS XVI ORMOLU-MOUNTED TULIPWOOD BOIS CITRONNIER AND MARQUETRY TABLE A ECRIRE

Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer, maître in 1771.
The inventory of the workshop of Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer, drawn up after the death of his wife in 1783, gives a picture of a relatively important ébéniste as more than two hundred pieces of furniture are described in varying degrees of completion. The accounts also show that he was also working in the capacity of a marchand-mercier as he resold furniture produced by his compatriots, including R.V.L.C., Petit, Roussel, Topino, and Canabas. Originally from the Northern Rhine, Cramer moved to Paris where he worked as a free laborer in the Faubourg Saint-Antoine before being awarded his maîtrise in 1771. A few years later, he settled on rue du Bac, a more auspicious location for work with a growing private clientele. In 1790, he had to suspend his payments, while he still had in store more than 15,000 pounds of goods. The cabinetmaker died in 1804.
Influenced by ornamenistes who advocated a return to nature and decor in the antique, Cramer’s work displayed a rigorous architectural form often incorporating inlaid geometric patterns on pale grounds such as bois citronnier or sycamore.