Napoleon III Rosewood and Marquetry Writing Table

An unusual amboyna Napoleon III secretaire desk by Diehl, the rectangular top above a single long frieze drawer which opens to reveal a leather-inset secretaire with a pigeonhole fla...

A large Napoleon III ebonized partners’ desk, the rectangular leather inset top with copper stringing and a matching book slide at either end, each side with one long and two short d...

A Napoleon kingwood marble free-standing writing table attributed to Sormani, the shaped rectangular top inset with Breche d’Alep marble within ...

A fine Victorian kingwood and box wood strung mounted ladies writing table in the French taste, the central draw with an oval panel of semi precio...

A Regency well-figured mahogany writing table, of rectangular form with a green leather-inset top, one long and two short drawers in each frieze, set upon reeded tapering legs with t...

A fine mid-Victorian burr walnut writing table, the top finely inlaid with rushes and scrolling tendrils in the kingwood banding, with ormolu...

Large French writing desk from the first half of the 20th century. Moved and rounded furniture in rosewood, walnut, mahogany and fruitwood richly adorned with gilded and chiseled bro...

Italian writing desk from 20th century. Napoleon III style furniture inlaid and veneered in walnut, mahogany, maple and fruitwood enriched...

A George IV rosewood writing table. The rectangular tooled leather top, with a rosewood cross banded edge, and a pierced brass gallery, above two fr...

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...

A George III figures mahogany ladies writing table, attributable to John Cobb with rising screen and concealed drawer on shaped slender cabriole l...

Antique Napoleon III style black lacquer and gilt bronze mounted writing / center table, late 19th century. With a black lacquer top banded with gilt bronze and a later glass top, a frieze drawer on one side, resting on black lacquer cabriole...