Filing Cabinet

Attributedattributed to Etienne Doirat (French, ca. 1670 - 1732)

Formerformerly attributed to Charles Cressent (French, 1685-1768)

Additional Title(s)

Cartonnier

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Date1720-1732

Mediumsolid oak; purplewood veneer, bronze mounts; boxes of modern papier mache (carton), paper, and leather hide.

Dimensions16 x 31 3/16 x 10 3/16 in. (40.6 x 79.2 x 25.9 cm.)

DescriptionA small filing cabinet with five drawers.

InscribedTyped paper label in proper left drawer, "From the Collection of the Comte de la Riboiserie Paris".

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextAlthough many 18th-century desks survive, their filing systems usually do not, which has often led to a focus on their decorative, rather than utilitarian, nature. In the 18th century, the bureau plat was a highly functional piece, made to facilitate clerical tasks. Its form had developed alongside a growing culture of bureaucracy that took shape as early as the 16th century, when the French crown established a network of offices to administer its domestic policies.

Object number11.47