Bureau Plat After The “de L’abbé Terray” Model Louis XV Style XIXe

This 19th-century bureau plat (flat writing desk) is crafted in authentic Louis XV style, modeled after the renowned “Bureau de l’Abbé Terray” created around 1760 by cabinetmaker Nicolas Pierre Séverin – the original masterpiece is held in the Louvre Museum’s collectionproantic.com. A product of the Napoléon III era, this exquisite desk faithfully echoes the design and ornamentation of the 18th-century model, while showcasing the highest quality craftsmanship of its time. It features satinwood veneer marquetry and is adorned with rich gilt-bronze mounts of exceptional quality, all characteristic of the opulent French Rococo revival style.

The desk’s rectangular top has a graceful serpentine outline and retains its original gilt-tooled leather writing surface, with the gold tooling still beautifully preserved. The leather is bordered by a contoured gilt-bronze molding (quarter-round ormolu surround), providing a luxurious frame around the workspace1stdibs.com. The frieze (apron) of the desk houses three drawers with subtly convex fronts, each framed by finely chased acanthus leaf motifs in gilt bronzeproantic.com. The drawers are further embellished with ornate Rococo-style bronze handles and a central key escutcheon, all gilded and intricately detailed in harmony with the Louis XV aestheticchristies.com. The ends of the desk are decorated with gilt-bronze floral garlands and foliate sprays, mirroring the front’s lavish ornamentation, so that every side of the desk is equally impressive for placement in the center of a roomcollections.louvre.fr.

The desk stands on four elegant cabriole legs, each crowned with a magnificent gilt-bronze corner mount (chute) featuring a classic Rococo shell motif surrounded by cascading leafy scrollsproantic.com. These corner mounts flow into the shapely legs, which terminate in foliate wrapped sabots (foot mounts) protecting the feetchristies.com. All the bronze mounts – from the shell-adorned corners to the floral side ornaments and foot sabots – are of the highest casting and chiseling quality, evidencing crisp details and lustrous water gilding. The satinwood marquetry veneer exhibits a warm, uniform grain that enhances the desk’s graceful lines, an aesthetic choice noted in 19th-century reproductions to refine this celebrated modelproantic.com. Notably, the reverse side of the desk is finished to the same standard as the front, with dummy drawer fronts and matching decoration, allowing the piece to be showcased freestanding in the middle of a room with equal visual appeal from all angles.

Dimensions:
Height – 87 cm;
Width – 187 cm;
Depth – 95 cm