A LOUIS XV GILT-BRONZE MOUNTED TULIPWOOD, AMARANTH AND SATINÉ BUREAU PLAT À GRADIN, STAMPED J.F. LELEU, CIRCA 1765-1770 |

applied with "à la Grecque" pattern and ornaments, the frieze with two drawers, the gradin comprising three cases, the sides partly hedged

This piece of furniture is similar to a group of small Neoclassical desks characterized by a Greek fretwork frieze of marquetry and derived from the "bureau à la grec", a model delivered in 1765 by the decorative arts dealer, Philippe Poirier, to the comte de Coventry (see S. Eriksen, Early neo-classicism in France, London, 1974, 317, and A. Pradère, "Les achats parisiens du comte de Coventry" in L'Estampille-L'Objet d'art, no. 303, June 1996, p. 50). On these desks, we note mainly the stamps from the cabinetmakers René Dubois and Philippe-Claude Montigny, who collaborated frequently, and only once collaborated with Jean-François Leleu (sold Sotheby's Monaco, 14 December 1996, lot 88). However, our desk is distinguished by its tier and a more airy drawing on the frieze. The drapery cascades are found on another bureau à la grecque, with a slightly different frieze, made by Montigny and illustrated in A. Pradère, Les Ebénistes français de Louis XIV à la Révolution, Paris, 1989, p. 306, fig. 344.