A very fine fall front desk from the Charles X period circa 1820-25. The frame is made of oak, and the very well preserved veneer is a still glowing birdseye maple with fine incrustations of amaranth wood. The Charles X period, on the whole, and thus specifically this piece, demonstrate the height of the art of marquetry in furniture history. It is also one of the rarest of the core decorative arts styles in France due to it’s short-lived nature, socio-economics of the time that rendered fewer people capable of affording such luxury in the wake of the Napoleonic wars.

The blond colored wood is a semantic reaction to the dark mahogany used during the preceding Napoleonic/Empire period. As the Empire style triumphantly boasted “we are as grand as Ancient Rome,” the Charles X style marks the beginning of the romantic period with a softer aesthetic that says “we miss Ancient Rome.” The stark difference between these respective neoclassical styles, 1810 and 1825, demonstrate how furniture reveals the ideas, aspirations and the nature of each era.

This desk, in coherence with the quality of execution evident at first glance, comprises all the features of the finest models of the time (counterbalanced fall front writing surface, exquisite inlay and mirror inside the inner gallery, diamond shaped key columns, and an unusually vivid blue marble top).

H: 60.5 in. W: 36.5 in. D: 15.25 in.

Myers & Monroe, LLC