French Napoleon III Cylinder Desk with Flap

French Napoleon III cylinder desk with flap. Elegant antique Napoleon III mahogany cylinder-shaped desk, with flap and three-drawer cartonnier and large front drawer, with a harmonious structure, supported by gently curved legs and decorated with gilded bronze frames and elements which underline the prestige of this bureau d’ era.

A mechanism with levers and references connects the opening of the cylinder to the extraction of the front drawer, which acts as a support; then raising the flap, you obtain a large writing surface, centered by brown leather which reveals three small drawers surmounted by an internal compartment. By opening the flap, this exclusive desk with lift, of French origin, becomes 85 centimeters deep.

This type of furniture is called Bonheur du Jour and is a type of women’s desk. It was introduced to Paris by one of the fashionable decorators and purveyors of novelties called marchands-merciers about 1760, and quickly became very fashionable.

It is in good general conditions of conservation, considering its dating to around 1870, it has only minimal defects and small signs of wear; It comes from the legacy of an antique collection of a Milanese family.