Offered by Galerie Gilles Linossier
A rare and charming small tambour-front secretary says "secrétaire à rideau" featuring veneers of rosewood, satinwood, amaranth, and stained sycamore. Gently bombé on three sides, it is richly adorned with finely executed polychrome floral marquetry, a hallmark of Adrien Delorme’s work.
The front features a marquetry tambour shutter, a rarity for this type of furniture, revealing a fitted interior. This interior comprises four upper compartments and four lower drawers, all decorated with geometric trellis marquetry accented by dots and stylized flowers.
A sliding writing surface is discreetly concealed within the frieze; lined with black leather, it provides a functional area for writing.
The lower section opens via two doors, also richly decorated with marquetry depicting flowers and scrolling foliage spilling from a basket, concealing a storage space divided by a shelf. The sides echo this floral motif, while the uprights feature light-wood veneer panels centered with marquetry rosettes and framed by marquetry scrollwork designs set within escutcheon-like shapes. While such areas are typically adorned with gilt bronze, the use of marquetry on the uprights here marks this piece as a product of exceptional craftsmanship.
The piece rests on cabriole legs fitted with sabots and openwork chased-bronze mounts at the shoulders. It is topped with an elegant "Brèche d'Alep" marble slab featuring a double "bec de corbin" edge profile. This exquisite secrétaire, rare due to its compact proportions, marquetry tambour shutter, and inlaid uprights, bears the stamp of Adrien Delorme; it comes from the Parke-Bernet sale of March 14, 1959, and subsequently belonged to a significant private collection in North Rhine-Westphalia.
It is also documented in the book Les ébénistes du XVIIIe siècle français, Collection "Grands Artisans d'Autrefois," Connaissance des Arts, Hachette, 1963, p. 117; the section dedicated to Adrien Delorme spans pages 114–117).
Adrien Delorme, who became a master cabinetmaker in 1748, is considered one of the most outstanding Parisian cabinetmakers of the reign of Louis XV. His work is distinguished by the excellence of its floral marquetry, the quality of its veneers, and the elegance of its proportions. This small secretary perfectly illustrates the refinement of his craftsmanship, combining decorative virtuosity with ingenuity.
Only the greatest cabinetmakers produced such pieces; notable examples include the tambour-front secretary stamped by Nicolas Petit, which bears strong similarities to the present piece in terms of its decoration, shaped cartouches, and marquetry uprights (featured in Le Mobilier Français du XVIIIe Siècle by Pierre Kjellberg, Éditions de l'Amateur, 2008, p. 691) and the secretary known as a "meuble combiné" (combined-function piece) held at the Petit Palais (Tuck Gallery), attributed to RVLC.
Dimensions: H 118.5 cm x W 83 cm x D 44 cm
