Center Cylinder Desk Inlaid And Richly Decorated With Bronzes - Louis XV Style

Inlaid center cylinder desk richly adorned with bronzes - Louis XV style

Important Louis XV-style cylinder desk richly inlaid on all sides, featuring a remarkable antique-inspired decoration executed in precious wood marquetry.

The cylinder reveals a refined interior composed of numerous small drawers and pigeonholes.

The flap also features a superb inlaid decoration animated with architectures and lacustrine landscapes.

The cylinder front is adorned with a spectacular character scene in the taste of Antiquity, of exceptional decorative quality.

Very rich gilded bronze trim such as:

• chutes,
• sabots,
• encadrements,
• openwork gallery,
• handles,
• hands and two important candelabras with female figures supporting the light arms.

The piece rests on moving curved legs typical of the Louis XV taste.

High-quality work inspired by the great models of the 18th century.

Dimensions:
H. 155 cm
W. 168 cm
D. 89 cm

Very good overall condition.
Excellent quality of marquetry and gilding.

Spectacular, decorative furniture, ideal for an office, library or prestigious classical interior.

In order to complete the renewal of the furniture of the King's corner cabinet, Jean-François Oeben undertook in 1760 the creation of an extraordinary piece of furniture: the Louis XV cylinder secretary; nine years were necessary for its execution; Oeben having died in 1763, it was his pupil and successor Riesener who ensured its completion, until 1769.

This piece of furniture, a veritable masterpiece of 18th-century French cabinetmaking, with its rocaille forms, offers a synthesis and combination of the most accomplished techniques: the perfection of the forms and the complexity of the mechanisms were Oeben's specialty; the dazzling marquetry decoration, composing veritable tableaux, undoubtedly belongs to Riesener, while the magnificent gilded bronzes were the work of Duplessis and Hervieux. Miraculously preserved from revolutionary sales, the secretary returned to Versailles in 1957.