Antique Georgian Style Pedestal Desk

A superb antique Victorian period pedestal desk. This was made in England, it dates from around 1860-1880. It is of fantastic quality and has a lovely design. The top has an inverte...

A superb antique Victorian pedestal desk, beautifully made from satin wood. This was made in England, it dates from around the 1860-188...

A beautiful and very unusual antique early Victorian architects desk. This was made in England, and I would date it from the 1840-1860 period. It appea...

A beautiful antique kidney shaped desk. This was made in England, it dates from around the 1890-1910 period. This actually has a brass plaque in the top drawer from when it was pres...

A smart and extremely well made antique military campaign style pedestal desk. This was made in England, it dates from around the 1950’s. It is of superb quality, it is very heavy a...

A fantastic antique Georgian writing table / desk of the highest order. This was made in England, it dates from around the 1820’s period...

Exclusive Louis XV style ladies bureau plat/desk Solid beech wood with exotic root veneer. Extremely fine, floral bronze fittings. Cambered and ...

Antique 19th century Mahogany Adams Style Regency writing table desk. Additional information: Materials: Mahogany Please note that thi...

We are delighted to offer for sale this Lovely Yew Wood Georgian Style Directors Twin Pedestal Desk. The desk still has the original aged inlaid green le...

CAPRETTA table line - our 17th Century Italian refectory style rustic table with drawer, handcrafted in Old Chestnut with smooth, soft brushed surface t...

A 18th century architects table with a single drawer which opens to reveal a several compartments. The front of the table is decorated wi...

A magnificent and very rare Régence style marquetry inlaid grand bureau plat or writing desk. Inscribed to the carcass 'Moreaux 72'. Dating from the second half of the nineteenth century this magnificent and very rare bureau plat has finely cast rocaille gilt-bronze mounts and is decorated overall with truly breath-taking seventeenth century marquetry, depicting fantastical townscapes, knights, soldiers, hunting and architectural-scenes. Of serpentine rectangular form the top is veneered with superb marquetry panels within a foliate scrolled border and a rocaille shell-cast gilt-bronze surround, both sides featuring a recessed central drawer flanked on each side by a drawer applied with male and female terms, scrolled handles, and reserves with conforming drawers; the bombé sides are centred by foliate scrolls, and the whole raised on cabriole legs headed by cartouches with foliate entwined chutes terminating in scrolled sabots. Of impressive scale this fine bureau plat, in the manner of a partners desk, features working drawers to each side. This model of bureau plat was made by a small number of celebrated Parisian cabinet makers in the second half of the 19th century including Beurdeley, Cremer and Befort Jeune. It is incredibly rare to see this model of bureau plat inlaid in marquetry. The exceptional quality and style indicate the use of older reused marquetry, almost certainly dating from the late 17th century and originating from the Augsburg region of Germany. Similar models but lacking the exceptional marquetry inlay can be found in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Bowhill, and the Earl of Normanton at Somerlely. Christopher Payne notes that the latter was part of a pair sold by the London dealer Toms & Luscombe in 1871. He illustrates the present bureau plat in his book ‘European Furniture of the 19th Century’ (p. 88-89), along with two related desks minus the marquetry inlay (p. 92 -93). The exceptional and highly complex marquetry inlay and intarsia work, that sets this important bureau plat apart from other extant examples, would originally have formed the decorative panels of a late 17th century table cabinet, almost certainly ascribable to the Augsburg region of Germany. Augsburg emerged from the middle of the 16th century as the German centre of luxury cabinet making for the international market. In particular, the development of marquetry contributed to this prominent position, favoured by the ready availability of indigenous woods and the reputation that Augsburg had the best craftsmen able to cut thin layers of veneers in the most intricate motifs (C.S. Wood, ‘The Perspective Treatise in Ruins: Lorenz Stöer, Geometria et perspectiva, 1567’, Studies in the History of Art, no. 59, p. 246). Table cabinets, conceived as a form of Wunderkammer or cabinets of curiosities, were intended as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects and by the 1550s the grandest cabinets in Europe were being made in Augsburg. Decorated almost entirely with sumptuous marquetry, often depicting perspective views of ruins and fantastical townscapes, they become by the 1590s highly regarded as important diplomatic gifts. Fine Augsburg marquetry panels remained popular throughout the ages and were frequently re-used to create or embellish new items of furniture, such as this magnificent bureau plat. Their inclusion was not only for their highly decorative appeal, but to contemporary eyes, a means by which to imbue a new creation with a sense of true historical authenticity. The importance of such panels is often reflected in the high cost involved in repurposing them. A fine example of this is the celebrated 17th century cabinet on stand...