Artist: Jean-francois Oeben (1721 - 1763)
Nationality: French
Movement:
Media: ebeniste
Influences:

Biography:
Jean-Francois Oeben was born in Germany and moved to Paris in the 1740’s. He married the sister of an ebeniste and was later given the title of Cabinetmaker to the King, acquiring royal lodgings and a workshop at the Gobelins manufactory. The King gave Oeben a workshop at the Arsenal in 1756 where he was permitted to cast his own metal fittings, a practice usually outlawed by guild laws. Oeben made furniture for many members of the aristocracy including Madame de Pompadour. He also trained Jean-Henri Riesener and Jean-Francois Leleu. The former took over his workshop and married his wife upon his death in 1768.