Secrétaire à abattant; France, c. 1796.

Secrétaire à abattant; France, c. 1796.
Pine wood and amaranth handle veneer with brass handles and keyhole.
Inscribed and dated on the back of the lower right drawer.
Preserves key.
It has flaws in the veneer.
Provenance: Le Bois Mural.
Measurements: 149 x 117 x 42 cm.
Secretaire à abattant made in walnut and fruit wood at the end of the 18th century. This secretaire à abattant is a representative example of European furniture from the end of the 18th century. The piece presents a marquetry decoration with geometric fillets, an ornamental resource characteristic of the neoclassical taste. A frieze drawer is arranged in its upper part, while the hinged front, ornamented with an oval panel, opens to reveal a carefully arranged interior with compartments and small drawers, as well as a lined writing surface. Notably, inside, the lower lane of the sample has a simulated drawer, allowing for a secret compartment. This arrangement responds to the illustrated ideal of order and discretion, combining the practical use of the desk with the appearance of a living room furniture.
The lower part is composed of two doors with rectangular panels, flanked by chamfered sides, adding dynamism to the structure and softening the vertical lines. The cabinet rests on slightly truncated pyramidal square legs, a detail typical of French Louis XVI style furniture.
In this period, immediately after the French Revolution, furniture production underwent a profound aesthetic and ideological transformation: the ornamental excesses of the Rococo were abandoned and a more sober, rational and geometric language was adopted, in line with the neoclassical ideals of order.