A Louis XVI gilt-bronze mounted mahogany bureau plat, stamped E. Levasseur JME, late 18th century

Acquired by Mr. Jacques Pereire from B. FABRE & FILS, Antiquaires, Paris in February 1933;

Thence by descent to the present owner.

Considered one of the important cabinetmakers of his time, Etienne Levasseur (1721-1798) was reçu maître in 1766. Highly skilled, he became an adjudicator for his guild in 1782 and in 1785 and 1789 he supplied furniture for the Garde-Meuble Royal. Levasseur started his career as an ouvrier privilégié in the rue Faubourg-Saint-Antoine and worked almost exclusively for the marchands-merciers, producing luxury furniture using precious materials like mahogany, Japanese lacquer and Boulle marquetry. It is believed that he was apprenticed to one of André-Charles Boulle's sons and this influence is evident in the successful way he restored and manufactured pieces of Boulle marquetry furniture which explains why his stamp is found on many Louis XIV pieces which he restored.

After his death in 1798, the workshop was led by his son Pierre-Etienne and during the Restauration by his grandson Pierre-François-Henri Levasseur, called Levasseur jeune, who took over his father's business in 1823 and produced similar work into the 1830s.

A related bureau plat stamped by Etienne Levasseur, generally restrained in ornamentation and of slender form was sold at Christie's, New York, 21 November 2008, lot 71.