A mahogany writing table, raised on turned, fluted legs, set with gilt-brass mounts and with porcelain plaques on the drawer fronts. The top is covered in black leather (much damaged).

A rectangular writing table or desk, the case of oak and softwood veneered on the back and sides with panels of stringing in lighter woods forming a trellis on a mahogany ground. The front of the desk is mounted with porcelain plaques, painted with flowers on a white ground, inside brass frames. The central two plaqus forms the front to a long shallow drawer, flanked by two deeper ones. The arrangement of the plaques suggests that there are four drawers on the sides of the desk, rather than two. The mounts on the table are probably of lacquered brass rather than gilt brass.
The desk stands on four fluted tapering legs, the flutes mounted at their tops with foliate brass pendants of berried laurel, below collars of brass cast with gadroons and beading. The legs continue as rectangular sections forming the frame of the carcase section and the visible faces of these are fluted, the flutings enriched at the top with pendants of laurel in brass. A brass frame runs around the top of the table, supporting a pierced brass gallery on the back and sides.
The drawers are framed with flat fillets of brass with beading. On the side drawers these show a central, vesica-shaped frame of brass, surrounding mahogany that is set with a lock escutcheon in the form of an oval with a draped swag of laurel held by a ribbon bow above. This escutchion appears on all four drawer fronts although on the lower ones they are blind. The two apparent drawers on each side are separated by a section veneered in mahogany, suggesting the front of a dust board. On the central, shallow drawer, there are two plaques of porcelain, separated by an elongated section of mahogany, with rounded ends. This is set with a shield-shaped lock escutcheon in cast brass with flanking fronds of foliage (crossed laurel branches with two mathching but unidentified branches). The porcelain panels on the drawer fronts appear to be cut from older pieces of tableware. They have not outer frame of colour (blue, green or pink) as would be standard with Sèvres plaques made for the decoration of furniture.
The writing surface is a panel of black Russia leather outlined with blind stamping of small, repeating swags of flowers, set inside a veneered mahogany border. The top is much cracked and shows areas of loss.
The drawers are lined with oak. The underside of the carcase is dark stained.

Bequeathed by John Jones

This table was bequeathed to the Museum in 1882, as part of a large collection of French 18th-century decorative art given by the military tailor John Jones.

The lock escutcheon on the main drawer is identical to one on a small desk or bonheur du jour (1078-1882) and it would seem likely that they came from the same workshop, either in London or Paris.

This writing table was made in Paris or London in about 1840-1860. Its simple, rectilinear design references French furniture of the late 18th century, particularly that of the Parisian cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener (1734-1806). The desk reflects the thriving market that existed for 18th-century French furniture in 19th-century Europe. The plaques of porcelain appear to be cut from eighteenth-century tablewares. Plaques that were made specifically to mount on furniture from the 1760s show framing of bright colours (blue, pink or green). These plaques not only lack that coloured edge but also show areas of roughness close to the frames in places that suggest they have been cut down for their current purpose.

The desk was given to the Museum as part of a large, important bequest from the military tailor John Jones. In total, Jones Jones’ bequest comprised 1,034 objects (excluding the books). This included 105 paintings, 137 miniatures, 147 pieces of porcelain, 52 bronzes and gilt-bronze objects, 135 pieces of furniture, 109 sculptures, and 313 prints. In the handbook that was published after the bequest arrived at the Museum, this desk was described as 'being the first piece of this kind of furniture which Mr Jones bought' (William Maskell, Handbook to the Jones Collection in the South Kensington Museum. London: 1883, p. 89).

1090:1 to 5-1882