Chinese Chippendale style bureau plate. England, George III, third quarter of the 18th century.

Office table or "Bureau plate" Chinese Chippendale style. England, George III, third quarter of the 18th century.
Mahogany wood, embossed leather top. The profile of the top is molded and carved with fretwork.
Tracery in the corners of the legs. These are of square section and are decorated with interlaced chisels.
Handles in gilded bronze.
It shows wear due to the passage of time.
Three front drawers. False side and rear drawers.
Oak structure.
Measurements: 76 x 136,5 x 84 cm.

This elegant writing desk, also known as "bureau plate", is a significant example of English furniture from the third quarter of the 18th century, at the height of the reign of George III, and is part of the Chippendale-inspired production, with marked chinoiserie influences, so characteristic of British taste in the middle decades of the century.

The piece of furniture combines with balance the structural solidity of the oak, used in the internal frame, with the rich mahogany surface. The top is covered with embossed leather. The edge of the top has been molded and carved with a fretwork of gadroons.

The corners of the legs are decorated with oriental-inspired openwork tracery, a distinctive detail of the Chinese Chippendale style, which combines historicist forms and exotic motifs with Chinese roots. The legs are straight, square in cross-section, with simple interlaced chisel work, reminiscent of oriental carvings, which lends visual lightness to the structure without compromising its strength.

The front of the desk has three functional drawers, flanked by false side and rear drawers, a common resource in this type of furniture, which sought to maintain decorative symmetry from any point of view, particularly when the desk was located in the center of a room, in the manner of a freestanding piece of furniture.