A REGENCE ORMOLU-MOUNTED AND BRASS-INLAID AMARANTH TABLE A ECRIRE

CIRCA 1725, POSSIBLY BY BOULLE FILS, RE-MOUNTED

Details

A REGENCE ORMOLU-MOUNTED AND BRASS-INLAID AMARANTH TABLE A ECRIRE
CIRCA 1725, POSSIBLY BY BOULLE FILS, RE-MOUNTED
The rectangular top with three-quarter gallery and inlaid with a double diamond within a rectangle, with a drawer and masks to the long sides, the sides of scrolling outline and the legs mounted with acanthus leaves on hoof feet, restorations to veneers, the mounts 19th century
27 5/8 in. (70.1 cm.) high; 34 in. (86.4 cm.) wide; 21 1/8 in. (53.7 cm.) deep

Provenance

Collection Madame Léon, sold Hôtel Drouot (Fraysse & Associés), Paris, 9 April 2014, lot 149.

Lot Essay

This rare and extremely elegant desk is one of a small corpus of bureaux plats that relate to the oeuvre of André-Charles Boulle and his workshop. Richly veneered overall in amaranth and embellished with finely chased mounts, this desk is illustrative of the avant-garde design associated with Boulle.

At least two related models of this type of bureau-plat are known. The first was formerly in the collection of Louis Guiraud until sold Palais Galliera, Paris, 1971, lot 121. It subsequently formed part of the Collection of Hubert de Givenchy until sold, Christie’s Paris 15-17 June 2022, lot 378 . The second is a bureau-table de jeu in the Jacquemart- André Museum, Paris (inv. MJAP-M 374-2). Attributed to Boulle it also bears the stamp of Jean-François Leleu (1729-1807) who likely added his stamp to the piece after carrying out restoration at the end of the 18th century.