Bureau Bookcase
1790-1810 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The cylinder-top desk was invented in France around 1760 and copied in Britain soon afterwards. In the first examples the roll top consisted of battens fixed next to each other on a canvas backing, allowing the panel to slide away flat when the top was opened. The rigid roll-top form seen in this piece was a later development, which again appears to have first appeared in France. It was adopted in Britain in the 1780s.
This form, combining a desk with a glazed superstructure containing shelves, was known as a 'bureau bookcase'. Pieces of this type were generally used in bedrooms, and some examples had a cupboard underneath the desk for storing clothes.
This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall, East Yorkshire
This form, combining a desk with a glazed superstructure containing shelves, was known as a 'bureau bookcase'. Pieces of this type were generally used in bedrooms, and some examples had a cupboard underneath the desk for storing clothes.
This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall, East Yorkshire
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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| Materials and techniques | Pine and mahogany veneered in satinwood with rosewood panels, tulipwood cross-banding, stringing of light and dark woods (possibly box or holly and ebonized pear); ebony (possibly); brass |
| Brief description | A bureau bookcase, veneered in satinwood inlaid with rosewood, tulipwood and other woods, the lower section in the form of a roll-top desk, supporting a two-doored bookcase, each door with nine panes of glass, the narrow, square-sectioned glazing bars forming an arch with concave sides at the top level. |
| Physical description | A bureau bookcase, veneered in satinwood inlaid with rosewood, the lower section in the form of a roll-top desk, supporting a two-doored bookcase, each door with nine panes of glass, the narrow, square-sectioned glazing bars forming an arch with concave sides at the top level. The bureau bookcase is made of pine and mahogany veneered in satinwood with rosewood panels, tulipwood cross-banding, stringing of light and dark woods (box or holly and ebonized pear?), and ebony(?) mouldings and interior handles; brass exterior handles |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Object history | Registered File 78/43 On show in the Octagon Court (Gallery 40) in January 1936, as shown in negative 74058, view no. 14. |
| Summary | The cylinder-top desk was invented in France around 1760 and copied in Britain soon afterwards. In the first examples the roll top consisted of battens fixed next to each other on a canvas backing, allowing the panel to slide away flat when the top was opened. The rigid roll-top form seen in this piece was a later development, which again appears to have first appeared in France. It was adopted in Britain in the 1780s. This form, combining a desk with a glazed superstructure containing shelves, was known as a 'bureau bookcase'. Pieces of this type were generally used in bedrooms, and some examples had a cupboard underneath the desk for storing clothes. This object is on loan to Sewerby Hall, East Yorkshire |
| Bibliographic reference | Tomlin, Maurice, Catalogue of Adam Period Furniture (London: HMSO for the Victoria and Albert Museum, 1972), cat. no. U/14, p. 181 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | W.84-1910 |
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| Record created | September 5, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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