A 19th Century Directoire Style Writing Desk

A late 19th century mahogany bureau plat or writing table, the cleated top with black leather inset, concealing side slides, all above one long drawer, flanked by two short drawers on either side, with brass medallion handles and rectangular panels, the ends with wash board mounts and raised on turned tapering fluted legs terminating in brass caps.

The form of this bureau plat is specifically Directoire – a period which took components from the Louis XVI style, such as the fine fluted legs, while reducing surface ornament in accordance with the sober tastes of the Revolutionary years. It was a transitional design period which led French cabinet makers on to discover the Empire style, that was inspired by the military conquests of Napoleon Bonaparte.

This desk is constructing using traditional French cabinet making techniques and utilises the finest timbers with mahogany lined drawers. It was made about a century after the Directoire, but with equal quality of construction and with a faithful adherence to scale and proportion.