Regency style writing table, ca. 1880. After models by CHARLES CRESSENT (Amiens, 1685 - Paris, 1768).

Regency style writing table, ca. 1880. After models by CHARLES CRESSENT (Amiens, 1685 - Paris, 1768). Bois de violette wood with gilt bronze applications. Envelope with its original embossed leather. Measurements: 76 x 160 x 89 cm. This is a splendid "bureau plat" in the French Regency style, heir to the aesthetics of the prolific cabinetmaker Charles Cressent. The piece of furniture, dating from the Napoleon III period, consists of a large rectangular top with an original leather top with embossed decoration, raised on four cabriole legs finished with gilt bronze appliqués. The sinuosity of the legs is continued in the profile of the waist, configured with alternating concave and convex shapes, an identifying characteristic of the Regency style, a transition between the Baroque and Rococo styles. The front of the chest has three drawers surrounded by a poly-lobed contour. The back also has three drawers, although they are false, with no opening. Cressent attached great importance to bronze applications, as can be seen in the decoration of the entire piece. Both the handles and the key locks have sinuous forms inspired by the rocaille motifs typical of the Rococo idiom. Of particular note are the high reliefs with female representations on the upper part of the legs, which are adorned with draperies that fall, forming a large number of folds. Above them, again, are acanthus leaves in keeping with the rest of the vegetal decoration that adorns the piece of furniture. Charles Cressent was, along with André-Charles Boulle, Antoine Gaudreaux, Pierre Migeon and Jean-François Oeben, one of the leading exponents of European Baroque furniture.