A fine fruitwood and marquetry bureau plat Louis XVI, late 18th century

with a rectangular brass-banded leather inset top, above two frieze drawers, the square tapering legs inlaid with a piastre headed by guttae, on tapering bun feet and brass castors, the whole inlaid with panels of marquetry depicting figures in landscapes and seascapes

The present bureau plat relates closely to the oeuvre of Christphe Wolff, received master in 1755. He was of German origin and was initially based in the rue de Charenton and then established himself in the rue Neuve-Saint -Denis, around 1770 and was a talented marqueteur and cabinet maker.

Though it relates closest to other examples made by Wolff, the marquetry depicting rural landscapes also reminds us of the oeuvre of Gilbert and Macret. All three of them are thought to have supplied some marquetry panels to the marchand-merciers for them to integrate them in furniture produced by some other makers. Hence, it makes a clear attribution quite tentative.

For a table with a very similarly inlaid frieze, see Sotheby's London, 11 June 2000, lot 35. For two closely related examples stamped Gilbert, see Sotheby's London, 9 June 2004, lot 95 and 96. Also see Pierre Kjellberg, Le Mobilier Français au XVIIIe Siècle, Paris, 1998, p. 877