Ormolu mounted mahogany roll top desk by Durand

This fine roll top desk is by Durand et Fils, one of the leading producers of luxury furniture active in Paris during the late 19^th and early 20^th Centuries. The present desk is after the celebrated model by Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806) that was made for Marie Antoinette's apartments at the Chemin des Tuileries in 1784 and now forms part of the collection in the Louvre, Paris.

The mahogany desk is in the Louis XVI style, with marquetry and parquetry in exotic woods, including fruitwood, amaranth, and tulipwood. The desk features an elegant roll top design, the top surmounted by three-quarter ormolu gallery. The front of the roll top features a central oval cartouche adorned with floral and musical marquetry, with the cartouche encompassed by an ormolu floral and foliate frame and the remainder of the roll top finished with lattice parquetry.

The desk opens to reveal a gilt-tooled leather writing slide beneath four drawers and five pigeonholes. The apron below the body of the desk features two further drawers, the surfaces finished with lattice parquetry and set with foliate ormolu mounts; most strikingly, the centre of the frieze of the apron is mounted with an ormolu bas relief panel executed in the manner of Clodion. The desk is supported by four tapering legs terminating in ormolu sabots. The sides and reverse of the desk are similarly decorated, with parquetry and further ormolu relief panels in the manner of Clodion.

The desk is stamped ‘G. Durand’.