Solid mahogany scriban chest of drawers, Bordeaux 18th century

Solid Saint-Domingue mahogany "scriban" chest of drawers, curved on all sides, opening to a flap and four drawers.
Made in Bordeaux at the end of the Louis XV period.


In the 18th century, this piece of furniture, which we now call a "scriban", was known as a "bureau-cabinet". This is no mere coincidence, as it seems to have had the same functions as the old ebony cabinets of the Louis XIV period, both a piece of furniture designed to contain precious and secret objects, but with a strong spirit of representation. In Bordeaux, even more than the famous commode en tombeau, the commode scribanne is the piece of furniture of the wealthy Bordeaux shipowner or merchant, a perfect expression of the splendor of these merchant companies in the 18th century.

The upper part opens with a flap made of a single wide board with two offset mitered handles, closed by a brass-faced iron lock and held in place by two brass hinges. The open cabinet reveals a wide, curved theater centered on a curved tabernacle door flanked by ten small, three-tiered curved drawers and two small free-standing compartments. The interior of the tabernacle is fitted with a mahogany-faced shelf and a wooden bolt along one of its uprights, which locks and unlocks the sliding floor that closes the secret cellar.
Note the excellent connection between the desk and the chest of drawers, a connection that is not as convincing on all scribans, giving a fluid line to the whole.
The chest of drawers features substantial curves, both in plan and in elevation. The uprights are decorated with reserves and molded on their inner edges, in line with the crosspieces, to form a frame around the drawers, while the edges of the drawers, whose ends are curved following the elevation of the uprights, are themselves underlined by a wide band, typical of Bordeaux manufacture. Finally, the front and rear uprights are punctuated by well-carved scrolled feet, and the wide lower crosspiece, underlined by a large frame molding that continues on the side rails, has a vigorous scalloped edge.

All visible parts in mahogany, drawer boxes in elm and fir, back in oak.
Very fine original condition (virtually no grafting to report), with all its bronze (6 pull handles, 3 lock escutcheons), brass (2 small escutcheons on flap and tabernacle door, 10 large interior drawer knobs and 2 pull knobs, 2 hinges) and wrought-iron (2 keys and 2 small scriban locks, 4 large chest locks) fittings, all period and original on the cabinet.

Opulent Bordeaux shipowner's furniture with a beautiful classical layout.

Enhanced by meticulous restoration and a beautiful wax-filled finish.


Bordeaux, late Louis XV period, 18th century.