An exceptional fall front desk in flame mahogany, with rare gilded bronze ornamentation (Corinthian capitals on the detached outer columns) and a black marble top. This desk exhibits all of the qualities of the finest manufacture. The full columns are far more elaborate than the half columns often used. Trefoil locks secure the doors and the fall front with its green leather writing surface that unfolds with the help of a counterbalance rigged on pulleys inside the frame. These large and strong locks show how these letter writing pieces were once used to guard one’s private correspondences.

Inside, two ebonite columns with the same Corinthian capitals border a mirrored gallery above a series of drawers made of solid mahogany which is a subtle touch found in the highest quality pieces. Hidden buttons reveal two spring loaded secret compartments which would have protected important letters.

Late Empire period, early Restoration period dating: The Restoration Period in France corresponds to the time after Napoleon when the Bourbon Monarchy was briefly restored. When Louis XVIII, King of France from 1815-1823, comes to power, he is basically content to reuse Napoleon’s furniture. One could say that the new “Restoration” was slow to adopt an entirely new style, which does emerge later with the Charles X style in the 1820s, but after the costly Napoleonic wars, it was better to avoid displays of wealth by lavishly refurnishing official buildings.

This desk could very well date from the end of Empire period (1810-1815), its eccentricities explained by it’s exquisiteness. (Identical bronze capitals do appear on an authentic empire secretary circa 1810-1815 owned by the French Interior Ministry and featured in Guillaume Jeanneau’s Le Meuble d’ébénisterie). The curved cornice and the plush nature of the bronze ornamentation, however, announce the beginning of the Restoration’s graceful influence on the monolithic Napoleonic style. The quality and technique of construction (handmade screw threads, and the joinery used inside the desk and on the oak frame) is congruent with early 19th century production. With this and its extraordinary form in mind, dating the desk circa 1820 might be a safer decision.

Aside from a debate on late Empire or early Restoration dating, the exceptional quality of the piece is undeniable with regard to the “everyday” secretaries of this style. In any case, the desk itself is very much an Empire work. The solemn and striking result of the wide angular surfaces, with the bronze ornamentation yielded this triumphant national style.The neoclassical tastes that reemerge in the middle of the 18th century are fully matured here. The desk is architectural and meant to be viewed straight on, with majesty and effect superseding its subtler artistic value. The grain of the flame mahogany is nevertheless particularly well staged.

Percier et Fontaine, two interior designers or architects of 18th-19th century neoclassicism, if one is to fully acknowledge the science of their work, claimed that “it is self flattery to find in vain any forms preferable the ones lent to us by the ancients.” Their stated goal in the Receuil de Décorations Intérieures was to “follow the models of antiquity, not blindly but with the discernment that modern customs and materials have provided [...] to imitate antiquity in spirit, in its timeless principles and maxims.”

H: 55 inches L: 35 inches D: 17 inches

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