a transitional style gilt-bronze mounted bureau a cylindre by maison beurdeley Paris, circa 1860, the carcass with 18th century elements

kingwood, satiné, amaranth, rosewood, hollywood and flower filled trellis marquetry on fruitwood ground, the superstructure with a three-quarter gallery enclosing a green Egyptian marble, flanked by a pair of scrolled acanthus cast two-light candelarms, the cylinder with a fitted interior and pull-out gilt-tooled green leather lined writing slide, the apron with three drawers, one with a locking coffre fort, each side also fitted with a writing slide above gilt bronze plaques cast in low relief and representing scenes with Amours in allegory of Arts, the back fitted with a large relief depicting a mythological scene with the infant bacchus tended by nymphs on the mount Nysa, one holding a thyrsus, the term of pan in the background, on cabriole legs terminating in paw feet, one mount has been removed to reveal the BY mark from the bronze master model. All locks 18th century, the carcass with 18th century elements.

Formely from the collection of Pierre Lecoules

Louis (1808-18850 and Alfred Beurdeley (1847-1919) specialized in reproducing the most magnificent articles from the Garde Meuble National, the firm exhibited and won awards at all of the major International Exhibitions during the second half of the 19th  century. The quality and skill employed in production was of exceptional quality; their ormolu mounts with mercurial gilding and hand chasing were often difficult to distinguish from late 18th century examples, and were considered the finest in Paris. The firm was pioneered by Jean Beurdeley (1772-1853), later managed by his son Louis-Auguste-Alfred, and who finally imparted it to his son Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis in 1875.  The firm was established at 32 Rue Louis-Le-Grand, and also owned pavillion de Hanovre, where the firm was based while Alfred-Emmanuel-Louis added two additional workshops at 20 and 24 Rue Dautancourt by 1875. The company's workshops closed in 1895 and Beurdeley's stock was sold over a number of auctions conducted by the Galerie Georges Petit of Paris. Two auction catalogues of the collection were published in 1895 and sales were held between March 6-8 and May 27-28.

The present desk derives from a model attributed to Jean-Henri Riesener, made c. 1775-80, in the collection of HM Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle (see Hugh Roberts, For The King's Pleasure, The Furnishing and Decoration of George IV’s apartments at Windsor Castle,  London, 2001, illustrated p. 145).  The overall design and shape of the cylinder, the frieze and the legs is identical; some of the gilt-bronze mounts are also of identical design.  Another comparable desk, firmly attributed to Riesener is illustrated, Geoffrey de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddeson Manor, Fribourg, 1974, Vol. I, pp. 297-307.  These two are comparable with a desk stamped by Riesener, made c. 1773 for the Comtesse de Provence (illustrated, M. Coutinho, 18^th Century French Furniture, Lisbon, 1999, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, no. 22, p. 215).

All of these desks bear the hallmarks of the craftsmanship of the Oeben workshop which Riesener took over following Oeben’s death in 1763.  They all derive from the famous ‘bureau du roi’  which had been designed by Oeben.  On his death, only the carcass had been completed and Riesener was responsible for most of the veneer and for the mounts.  The desk was delivered  to Louis XV in 1769.

The Beurdeley workshop was one of a number of 19^th century firms who made replicas of the bureau du roi and of other pieces by Riesener who continued to be widely admired and copied for much of the 19^th century.