Writing Desk

Attributedattributed to Le maître aux Pagodes (French, active in the 1730s)

Additional Title(s)

Bureau Plat
Library Table

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1730

Mediumoak and walnut carcase veneered with kingwood; gilt bronze mounts; modern leather top

Dimensions32 3/16 x 77 x 39 1/4 in. (81.8 x 195.6 x 99.7 cm.)

InscribedA typewritten rectangular paper label inside the central drawer: Louis XV TABLE BUREAU / ..x. Coll'n Bishop of Toledo. Duveen label: 24903.

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens

Status

On view

Label TextThe fine bronze mounts, loosely recalling Asian pavilions, that decorate this desk have led scholars to attribute it to the so-called Pagoda Master, an as-yet-unidentified cabinetmaker active in Paris in the 1730s. The fascination with Asian ornament, or chinoiserie, developed as trade routes to the East brought artifacts and other examples of Chinese and Japanese design to Europe. This desk combines Asian-inspired escutcheons with traditional European subject matter, seen in the allegorical heads and masks mounted along the legs and side panels.

Object number13.4