Napoleon III French Travel Fall Front Desk in Rosewood and Boxwood Veneer 1860s

An exceptional Late 18th century Mahogany Carlton House desk attributed to Gillows of Lancaster, the curved superstructure with pierced brass gallery, fitted with two banks of three ...

George I Inlaid Burr Walnut Double Done Bureau Bookcase circa 1720 In two parts with a double arched molded cornice above a pair of arched molded doors enclosing an arrangement of ...

Small French travel secretary Napoleon III in rosewood and boxwood veneer. Rare and extremely decorative antique furniture due to its size and finish....

Gorgeous 1800s Antique French Empire Style, Mahogany, Gilt, Secretaire a Abattant, Desk!! Antique secretaire a abattant, desk, French Empire style, mahogany, gilt, 1800s, 19th century! This stunning French Empire style marble-top mahogany fall-front desk, 19th century, projecting frieze drawer, with gilt metal crossed sword pulls, turned column supports flanking the fall-front panel, opening to gilt embossed leather writing surface, mirrored interior gallery, over dual cabinet doors, opening to reveal three drawers, above lower apron drawer, approximately 56.5" height 37.25" width, 17" depth. Dominated by Greco-Roman models, the Empire style - spare, noble, massive - had a studied dignity consistent with Napoleonic majesty. The characteristic furniture types were a bit stiff but imposing: their flat surfaces and sharp corners, together with their lack of moldings, produced an effect of grandeur that was not without beauty as per Timothy Corrigan The Empire style was deliberately propagandistic, and embraced what was most monumental in ancient art as suitable analogies to the new French Empire. Napoleon imposed a tyrannical centralization on artistic production, decreeing that it would be subject to control from Paris and overseen by the architects Percier and Fontaine...