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Writing Desk

Attributed (French, 1642 - 1732)
Additional Title(s)
  • Bureau Plat
ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS
Date1700-1705, with later alterations
Mediumsolid oak and walnut carcase veneered with purplewood; brass stringing; gilt bronze mounts; modern leather top
Dimensions30 1/8 x 74 1/4 x 35 5/16 in. (76.5 x 188.6 x 89.7 cm.)
DescriptionLouis XV Kingwood with gilt bronze.
Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens
Label TextThe fact that this desk has a relatively simple decoration suggests that it was probably commissioned or purchased by an aristocratic or professional patron rather than the royal crown. Strongly associated with masculine pursuits like business, writing, and study, bureaux plats like this often appear in portraits of men, and to a lesser extent of women, who sought to identify themselves as learned, worldly, and competent. Their sheer size, compared to the smaller, more delicate “women’s” desks (like the highly decorative mechanical table nearby), also endowed their users with a degree of monumentality.
Status
On view
Object number25.12
Writing Desk
Charles Cressent
1723-1730
Object number: 27.18
Writing Desk
Etienne Doirat
1720-1732
Object number: 11.27
Writing Desk
Le Maitre aux Pagodes
ca. 1730
Object number: 13.4
Photography © 2015 Fredrik Nilsen
Adam Weisweiler
1785
Object number: 27.21
Photography © 2015 Fredrik Nilsen
Pierre Garnier
1762-1765
Object number: 11.28
Writing table
Joseph Baumhauer
ca. 1765 with mid 19th Century alterations
Object number: 27.137
Writing Table
Bernard Molitor
ca.1788-1796
Object number: 16.12
Mechanical Writing Table
Jean-François Oeben
1755-1765
Object number: 27.185
Fall-Front Desk
Pierre Roussel
ca. 1760
Object number: 78.20.63
Desk
Joseph Baumhauer
ca. 1763
Object number: 27.132
Writing desk
Martin Carlin
ca. 1770
Object number: 27.121
Small Upright Writing Cabinet
Pierre Roussel
1760-1770
Object number: 27.101