Small desk in ebony and blackened pearwood

Late Louis XIV period - Circa 1710
Dimensions : H. 76 x W. 143 x D. 71 cm

Very nice desk decorated on all four sides, in ebony and blackened pearwood veneer. It opens with five drawers, and presents on the opposite side five false drawers perfectly simulated.

Confirming a period of manufacture of the first quarter of the 18th century, the desk presents on its two boxes the reminiscences of the four other feet that the last technical innovation had just made disappear.

Present on the four sides, a superb gilded and chiseled bronze garniture dresses this desk in a sober and very elegant way: The drop handles and the clogs, in particular, are of a refined and rare model.

The belts of the boxes, eight in total, are all vigorously curved, responding perfectly to the pronounced curve of the feet. Note that on more common models of the same period, the inner crosspieces (on either side of the user's legs), less visible, are not worked as here, and remain straight. The legs, still powerful at the end of the reign of Louis XIV, seem here to be light, thanks to the inner face (called "fifth face") they have. The bronzes in spandrels that decorate the top are of the same high quality as the rest of the ormolumounted.

The ornamentation of the brass fillets, in double line, and forming geometrical patterns, is perfectly positioned: on the top, on the legs and drawers, on the false drawers, and on the small sides, it accommodates the bronzes with precision and respects the perfect proportions of the desk.

The small size of this desk is rare. It does not alter the balance of the proportions, and without a comparison object next to it, no one can know from a photo that its width is only 143 centimeters.

The state of conservation of this desk is absolutely perfect. It has kept all its drawer interiors, fine walnut "foncures" confirming that it was made in "Ile de France". The fir frame has not undergone any transformation, and the veneer is original in its quasi-totality. The bronzes are all original, only their gilding has been resumed. The leather was redone by "Lemerle" in 2014.
This desk from a Parisian collection was acquired and sold by the Delvaille Gallery in 2014 to a Brazilian collector for his Parisian residence. The Delvaille Gallery has just bought it back and is happy to present it for sale again.