A Louis XVI all sided gilt-bronze mahogany bureau à cylindre signed F.BURY

This rare and elegant, all sided, Louis XVI Cuban mahogany roll top desk develops a set of four retractable writing tablets, present on each of its sides.
It is stamped F.BURY and JME
Ferdinand Bury (1740-1795) received master in 1774
Paris by 1775

It is opening with nine drawers, two doors accessing to a niche and a safety deposit box, and one roll top discovering a cognac leather top surmounted by seven drawers, one of which locks, and a cognac leather box. The back simulating conforming drawers. The Sainte-Anne grey marble top surrounded by an openwork gilded bronze gallery. The four tapered legs ending in gilt bronze castors and two carrying handles attached to each side of the cabinet. Stamped F BURY and JME under the roll top.

A first particularity of this rare desk is therefore to offer a decoration on all sides, which allows it to be placed in the center of a room. The second, rarer refinement, is to be equipped with a large retractable writing tablet at the rear, offering in addition to the main writing tablet and the two side writing tablets, a real second workstation.
The luxury of this piece of furniture also lies in the use of a plain and luminous Cuban mahogany, served by a sober design, it develops on large surfaces, enhanced by beautiful moldings and very few utilitarian gilded bronzes.


The taste for this plain mahogany furniture, according to the English taste, spread to Paris at the end of the 18th century. This Anglomania was introduced around 1770 by the high aristocracy, notably the Duke of Chartres (future Duke of Orléans) and the Count of Artois, brother of the king. Mahogany imported from the Caribbean was used by Parisian cabinetmakers to create a whole corpus of functional and innovative furniture for a clientele eager for novelty.

Often referred to by his first name, as Ferdinand, Bury was established rue de Charonne. Its production with sober lines stands out for its very good quality of execution. Master in 1774, he employed during his period of activity mostly German-speaking workers, renowned for their know-how and very good craftsmanship. He collaborated with Riesener, as proven by a chest of drawers, from the former Isaac de Camondo collection today housed in the Louvre, which bears their two stamps.

He ceased his activity in 1789 but had a reputation until the first years of the 19th century, as evidenced by a sale advertisement of "A secretary in plain mahogany, a superbly treated work of Ferdinand” published in Les petites affiches in 1808. A description that certainly fits the present desk.