A fine German brass-mounted mahogany bureau à cylindre stamped D. Roentgen, Neuwied circa 1780

with a rectangular stepped top containing a narrow drawer, with a cavetto border, above three frieze drawers, the roll-top concealing a pull-out leather inset writing surface, with pigeon holes and two drawers, one fitted for ink pot and sander, above two dummy drawers, the lower section with a frieze drawer, flanked on either side by two short drawers, flanked by fluted stiles on square tapering legs, with lunette cast capitols, on block and toupie feet, the whole panelled with brass banding; veneered on the back to form a centrepiece

Comparative Literature:
D. Fabian, Abraham und David Roentgen, Bad Neustadt/Saale, 1996, pp. 109-111.
J.M. Greber, Abraham und David Roentgen, Möbel für Europa, Starnberg, 1980,Vol. I, p.333, fig. 675.

The roll-top bureaux produced by the Roentgen workshop in Neuwied were amongst the most expensive items of furniture they sold. They were made not only in plain mahogany but also inlaid with marquetry and were even sometimes given as official state gifts. An example of this was the bureau à cylindre decorated with chinoiserie marquetry acquired by Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1779, which she presented to Pope Pius VI. (J.M. Greber, Vol. I, op. cit., p. 156, and vol. II, figs. 437-441).

After 1780, the Transitional roll-top bureaux were superceded by more restrained pieces in figured mahogany with finely-chased ormolu mounts. The present bureau is part of a small group of closely related examples, see the roll-top illustrated by Fabian, op. cit., p. 109, fig. 237, formerly belonging to  Grand Duke Petrovich, in the Gatschina Palace. It has the same fluting on the corners and simple panelling, with a frieze drawer flanked by two short drawers. Most of the bureaux illustrated by Fabian, op. cit. have ribbed panels, roundels or more elaborate  mounts than the offered bureau. The raised central section on the top is a common feature on bureau by Roentgen and can be seen on a related bureau illustrated by Fabian, op. cit., p. 111, in the Palace of Pavlovsk.  Also see Greber op. cit., p. 333, fig, 675, for a related  bureau with square tapering legs in the Hohenzollernmuseum Berlin. 

The present bureau is one of the few recorded piece of furniture by David Roentgen to be stamped by the maker in this way, though the signature D. Roentgen à Neuwied, and the monogram DR are also recorded.  See a bureau also stamped in this way sold in these Rooms as lot 33, 24th June 1988.

David Roentgen (1743-1807), ébéniste-mécanicien du Roi et de la Reine 1785, Master in Paris 1780:
David Roentgen was one of the most skilled ébénistes and celebrated cabinet-makers of the late 18th century. His father Abraham, also a fine cabinet-maker in his own right, had a workshop in Neuwied in Germany, where David also worked. Around 1781, he set up a shop of his own in Paris, which enabled him to develop an international clientele, which included Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette, the Comte d'Artois, Catherine of Russia and Frederick the Great.