Bureau de pente in solid mahogany - Nantes 18th century

Rare "Bureau de pente en bas d'armoire" or scriban.
Work from Nantes of the 18th century.

Of a compact size, this delightful piece of furniture with combined functions is made of a beautiful fine-grained Cuban mahogany and is presented in an excellent original condition with a shimmering filled-wax finish. It should be noted that we are dealing here, at least as far as port furniture is concerned, with a combined piece of furniture even rarer than the scriban in chest of drawers.
Its flat front opens with two molded leaves of asymmetrical poly-lobes decorated with finely carved scrolls revealing a shelf and two drawers with brass handles under the crosspiece. The uprights are also molded and punctuated with feet called "snails" (we say "periwinkles" in Nantes) while the lower crosspiece is strongly curved and molded with a quarter round bordered and decorated with double volutes typical of the Nantes style. The flap made of a beautiful mahogany board hemmed with a wide mitered frame reveals a curved interior with a tabernacle door flanked by two vertical secret drawers, eight stepped drawers and a secret compartment (or cellar). The sides of the cabinet are also curved and molded.

Two original locks and their keys, keyways and brass plugs from the Nantes region.

Elegant and good quality furniture, representing a rare specimen of Nantes scriban.