Date: about 1700-10
Maker: Cabinetwork attributed to André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732)
Materials: Walnut, ebony, turtleshell, brass, tin, gilt bronze and steel
Measurements: 132 x 44.5 x 34 cm
Inv. no. F417-18
Although it is usually difficult to pinpoint exactly when a particular type of furniture was invented, Boulle can be credited with popularising the writing table (called a bureau plat in French).
He created several iterations of this desk model between about 1690 and 1720. His innovative designs and elaborate marquetry were first applied to the kneehole desk, an earlier type arranged on eight legs, often with an X- or H-shaped stretcher between and sets of drawers on either side.
These were often referred to in the 19th century as bureaux Mazarin, named after Louis XIV’s chief minister, Cardinal Jules Mazarin, even though the model did not become fashionable until after Mazarin’s death.
The present example can be considered part of a later group of desks created around 1702–10, which all feature satyr masks on their corners.
Comparing it to the Mazarin type, we see that Boulle has substantially enlarged the writing surface, while replacing the deep drawers with shallower ones that integrate more closely with the piece’s overall outline.
This would have enabled the desk to be worked at from numerous angles by multiple people, such as secretaries or household staff.
The writing table proved hugely successful in the 18th century and had a profound impact on desk design in the 19th century and beyond.
Boulle made several designs for writing desks of this type, which varied in their design and decoration.
The satyrs that decorate the legs were based on a model by Girardon, Louis XIV’s official sculptor, who had a workshop in the Louvre adjacent to Boulle’s and is known to have collaborated with the cabinetmaker, particularly on figures of Father Time for clocks (F41 and F43 and F52).
Masks on either side of the central drawer depict the weeping philosopher Heraclitus and the laughing philosopher Democritus.
Such symbolism would have been considered highly appropriate for a table intended for the work and study of a cultured aristocrat.
The desk underwent some alteration, particularly to the drawers, both in France in the late 18th century and in England in the second quarter of the 19th century. Little is known for certain about the table’s history.
The 4th Marquess of Hertford acquired it at a London sale in 1856, but it has been suggested that the desk once belonged to Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, a younger brother of George IV.