The growing taste for collecting led to medal cabinets becoming widespread. In fact, this type of furniture contains all the indispensable characteristics of a sophisticated elite – a practical and utilitarian feel, beauty and harmony, sumptuousness, and luxury.

Charles Cressent was the most famous ébéniste of his time. His work is characterised by a monumentality in which bronze acquires an unprecedented splendour.

On the upper part of this cabinet, three boys skilfully mint coins. Below, two medals depict Louis XV and another one the Dauphin and his wife, Maria Josepha of Saxony. Flanking this set are 12 medals with the effigies of Roman emperors.

Cressent was the Regency’s ébéniste par excellence. His production was always faithful to the ‘style’ he created in the 1720-30s. He worked for most of the French aristocracy but also received commissions from other foreign royal houses, including that of Portugal, his work achieving a truly international dimension.