A large Louis XVI secretaire à abattant signed E.Avril

Etienne Avril (1748-1791)
A large louis XVI secrétaire à abattant
Plum-pudding mahogany, mahogany veneer, gilt bronze, steel, white marble
Signed E.AVRIL et JME
Etienne Avril, master on November 23 1774
Paris by 1780

This large secrétaire à abattant exemplifies the refined neoclassical aesthetic of the Louis XVI period. Its broad façade, over 130 cm wide, is crafted from richly figured chenille mahogany, framed by fluted columns and pilasters. The composition is architecturally balanced and subtly adorned with gilt bronze mounts—chiseled beading, ovolo friezes, and an elegant fluted-and-wheat-ear band concealing a full-width upper drawer.

The fall-front opens to reveal a writing surface lined in emerald green leather and a fitted interior comprising ten mahogany drawers and compartments, including one drawer with a writing set. Below, a pair of paneled doors opens to a shelved interior and a lockable compartment.

The secrétaire reflects the French taste for mahogany furniture that flourished in the 1780s, inspired in part by Anglomania—the fascination with British aesthetics, manners, and craftsmanship that influenced Parisian decorative arts. Mahogany, a wood long favored in English cabinetmaking, came to symbolize modernity, clarity of design, and a cosmopolitan sensibility in late Ancien Régime France.

Étienne Avril, who signed this secrétaire is a Parisian ébéniste known for his rigorously proportioned and elegantly restrained creations. His hallmark style combined fine tropical woods—especially mahogany and satinwood—with a minimalist approach to gilt bronze ornamentation.

A similar fluted-and-wheat-ear gilt bronze frieze appears on a commode in mahogany and ebony with porcelain plaques, delivered by Avril circa 1785 to the Marquis de Clermont d’Amboise (1728–1792). Confiscated during the French Revolution, it is now part of the collection at the Château de Fontainebleau (Inv. F611C).

Avril was received as maître on 23 November 1774. He established his workshop on Rue de Charenton, Paris, near Rue Moreau, and continued production until 1788, when he transferred the atelier to his brother. He later operated as a marchand on the Boulevard de la Porte Saint-Antoine, where he remained until his death in 1791. His work is recognized for its architectural clarity, exceptional veneer selection, and discrete use of bronze mounts.