Coen de Vries Style Multicolored Writing Desk

Great little writing desk in birch wood with ebony x-base, colored drawer and formica top. Coen de Vries is one of the Dutch pioneers of industrial...

Triangular shaped black enameled metal wall mount coat rack with multi-colored hooks, and built in hat rack. In original condition with visible wear, including rust. Wear is consiste...

Rare conversion sofa to bed from Coen de Vries for Pilastro with arm rests. Newly upholstered in grey and indigo with black enameled metal frame. When as a daybed it measures 85 x 32...

Cute wire coat rack by Coen de Vries for Pilastro. Pilastro was an Amsterdam company that proudly bore the Good Housing Quality Mark, an award given out by the publication of the "Go...

Triangular wall mount coat rack with multi-colored hooks by Coen de Vries for Pilastro. A functional black enameled metal wall mount rack with adjustable hooks and hat shelf. In orig...

Writing desk designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1971. Part of the 'DJOB' system for Denmark's National Bank. The desk has stacking drawers on both sides and is made of beech wood with an a...

This item is part of the private collection of Casey Godrie and is situated in his private house. Ask him for competitive shipping quotes. His incredible Dune Villa, Amsterdam Beach...

Wooden desk by Derk Jan de Vries. Holds a drawer on each side, simple and timeless.

Mid-century light wood desk by Derk Jan de Vries - Netherlands, 1960s. It is an iconic and very functional desk, thanks to its compact size it can eas...

The SAMARA collection desk, designed by Derk Jan De Vries (Obergum, 1917 – Veendam, 1991) for MAISA (Belgium) in 1977, offers a fascinating blend of timeless design and functional el...

Mid-century green wooden desk by Derk Jan de Vries - The Netherlands 1960s With desk chair.

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...