It came on October 16 as an ormolu-mounted Transition marquetry commode stamped Riesener, in walnut burr, rosewood, sycamore and amaranth with a satinwood interior, sold over double estimate at €3.5m (£2.43m).
The open-front commode, similar in design to models commissioned for Madame de Pompadour, was made around 1768 in the workshop of the late Jean-François Oeben, whose widow married Riesener in 1767. It was consigned by a French private collector.
The 231-lot sale of decorative arts yielded some €8.7m (£6m) hammer and was a healthy 87 per cent sold by value, but enjoyed a more modest 65 per cent take-up by lot.
Sotheby's claimed an auction record for a 16th century bronze at the same sale, as a Mannerist Black Venus (c.1580) from the former Maurice Kann Collection, described as one of the few 16th century bronzes still in private hands, sold for €390,000 (£271,000).
It was attributed to either Flemish sculptor Johann Gregor van der Schardt (1530-81) or his French contemporary Barthélemy Prieur (1536-1611).
By Simon Hewitt
