A tall secretaire with a drop front above two doors, the whole raised on tall feet and veneered in flam-figured mahogany, with details in ebony, and mounted in gilt brass, the mounts including two putti (small children) apparently carrying the grey marble slab.

A tall secretaire with a drop front above two doors, the whole raised on tall feet and veneered in flam-figured mahogany, with details in ebony, and mounted in gilt brass, the mounts including two <i>putti</i> (small children) apparently carrying the grey marble slab.

Of rectangular form and veneered entirely in figured mahogany on an oak carcase with gilt-brass mounts. Detached Ionic columns with gilt-brass capitals and flutes are set at the front corners, attached columns at the rear. The whole stands on four short tapering legs with gilt bronze feet. It is surmounted by a grey (St Anne) marble slab (possibly a replacement), with outset front corners and without any edge moulding. At each corner of the frieze below the slab are four winged gilt-brass putti (small children) standing on top of the capitals and designed to appear to be supporting the weight of the slab on their shoulders, in Herculese- or Atlas- inspired poses. An oak-lined drawer is set into the frieze; in the centre of this is a cast and chiselled key-hole escutcheon in gilt-brass set between laurel bearing winged nymphs with foliated tails from which emanate tendrils of grape laden vine-branches. At left and right of the drawer are cast and chiselled handles in the form of winged putti with foliated tails holding drapery.A gilt-brass band in the form of of laurel divides the frieze section from the fall-front central section.
The secretaire front falls to reveal a nest of eleven drawers with a cupboard set centrally between two banks of five drawers, with a single drawer above it. The cupboard door is a rounded arch, with no apparent lock or handle, set within a triumphal arch surround. Each drawer front is enriched with gilt-bronze mouldings. The three tiers of drawers are separated by Doric half-columns supported on plinths with matching panels above. Each of these plinths and panels is held in position by a catch, which can be released when the drawers are withdrawn, revealing four small secret drawers. The inside of the fall front is lined with green leather with tooled and gilt borders (possibly original, but probably replaced in the early 19th century.
The gilt-brass key escutcheon on the outside of the fall-front is in the form of a pelter shield with a palmette finial set between two eagles bearing a bound floral swag and with a thunderbolt held in their claws. A gilt-brass band of double-guilloche ribbon ornament divides this central section of the secretaire from the lower section.
A cupboard with two doors forms the lower half of the secretaire. The doors open to reveal three drawers. The key-hole escutcheons on each cupboard door are pearl-bordered with an acorn drop above and below (the lower drop on the left is missing)
The frieze, fall-front, cupboard panels and side panels are all surrounded with gilt-bronze borders of upright leaves set between bands of ebony.

Bequeathed by Edith Beatty to Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, by whom given to the Museum in her memory

This secretaire was given to the Museum in 1958 by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty FSA, LLD, D.Sc. in memory of his wife (d. 1952), together with a French commode by Stockel, W.22-1958(see Registered Papers 58/3024. He was a substantial and noted collector, particularly of books and manuscripts, but the collecting of French furniture seems to have been primarily his wife's interest.

In 1960 F.J.B. Watson illustrated this piece in Louis XVI Furniture (see refs, below) and suggested that it was the work of the Parisian cabinet-maker Bernard Molitor (1755-1833). This attribution was upheld for many years but it is now considered to be the work of Guillaume Beneman (working from about 1785-1804). Watson wrote that 'an identical secretaire en suite with a chest of drawers was in the Watson Taylor sale, Christie's, on 28th March 1825 (lot 26). This sale was outstandingly rich in furniture, etc., from the French royal collections and the catalogue describes both pieces as having come from the Palace of Compiègne; they are now in an English private collection. The high quality of the mounts (both outside and in the interior) and the carefully chosen mirror-veneers of mahogany suggest that this too may be a royal piece. It is unstamped but must date from the very end of Louis XVI's reign. Certain constructional details of the present secretaire, e.g. the fact that the interior fittings cannot be withdrawn as a unit from the back, suggests that it was not made by J.-H. Riesener (maître 1768)although it resembles his later works. It could perhaps be by E. Levasseur (maître 1767) who was working for Bellevue in much this style at this date (cf. fig. 82). It might, however, be by B. Molitor (maître 1787 [sic]) who also worked in a similar style.'

The secretaire and commode mentioned by Watson are the two pieces sold from the Rosebery collection at Mentmore by Sotheby's, in the celebrated house sale in May 1977. These two pieces were sold on Wednesday 18 May, lot 116. The provenance to the George Watson Taylor sale by Christie, Manson and Wood, King Street, London, 25 May 1825 (but as lots 27 and 28) was given. The provenance of those pieces to Compiègne was probably taken from the 1825 sale catalogue.

A similar secretaire, but with more elaborate mounts, is in the Palace of Carlos IV in Madrid, together with a commode. That piece is more heavily decorated than the V&A secretaire and may be of a slightly later date but is shares some of the mounts (the 'Atlas' child figures, the handles of the frieze drawer and its central mount, and the eagle mount for the key escutcheon. Those mounts, on the Spanish cabinet, were attributed to the bronzier Forestier, on the grounds of similarity to other pieces known to be by him. The secretaire is attributed to Jacob Desmalter. All this information is taken from older notes and needs to be checked. The piece was illustrated in Apollo, May 1968.

A commode, described as 'citronnier' (probably satinwood), with identical drawer-front mounts and an elongated version of the handles on the V&A commode (with a central roundel set between the child figures, was illustrated in Plaisirs de France, December 1968, as acquired by Palais Galliera, Paris. That commode was stamped with the inventory mark for the Chateau de Compiègne, but did not carry a maker's mark.

A secretaire in mahogany of similar form is in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow. It shares the 'Atlas' mounts, the mounts of the frieze drawer and the main key escutcheon mount of the eagles.

For instructions on opening and handling the secretaire, see Comments.

This type of furniture, called a secretaire a abbatant, (drop front secretary), consists of an upper portion made up of a fall-front which is used a writing surface when down and behind which are usually sets of smaller drawers. A long drawer is set into a frieze The lower portion is often a two door cupboard which can also be fitted with more drawers. These secretaires could also be supplied en suite with a commode.

This form of rectilinear fall-front desk (secrétaire à abbatant), with a drawer in the frieze and a two door cupboard beneath was favoured by many Parisian cabinet-makers in the 1780s. The combination of carefully chosen mahogany veneers and very fine gilt-brass mounts was an emerging fashion in the 1780s and prefigured the same combination that became very widespread in the early 19th century, in the Empire period. Guillaume Beneman, who is thought to have made this piece, became a master cabinet-maker in 1785, just four years before the French Revolution, but he is known to have made several pieces for members of the royal family in that short time.

W.23:1to3-1958