"billet-doux", Restoration Period, In 'flamed' Mahogany And Sycamore.

Created at the beginning of the 19th century, these small writing desks are derived from the fireplace screen, very fashionable at the end of the 18th century. They are light and elegant, in which one finds the essentials to write a 'love note'. Ours, from the Louis XVIII period (reign from 1814 to 1824), in Cuban mahogany, opens with a beautiful flamed flap, covered in green leather. The interior, in mahogany and sycamore, is equipped with two pivoting pen trays with glass inkwells and a letter compartment also pivoting. On the top, a sycamore box, with a secret opening, was perfect for 'hiding' these famous love notes! The back is treated as a screen, the top of which is covered with wallpaper with a pattern of crowns and palmettes (stained). The whole rests, thanks to two flat pilasters, on four arched 'skates'. A solid crosspiece completes this base. Pretty little piece of furniture in very good original condition and ready for writing a (sweet) post.