EMPIRE PERIOD PEDESTAL DESK Attributed to Jacob Desmalter In mahogany, mahogany veneer and green patinated wood, top in gilded leather, the waist opening onto two drawers and two sliding side shelves, the uprights decorated with lions leaning on either side of a ventail revealing an interior compartment, the front opening onto three drawers and three compartments, resting on a plinth; restorations, the pedestals and plinth of later date. H. 79.5 cm (31 ¼ in.) l. 161 cm (63 ¼ in.) P. 83.5 cm (32 ¾ in.) Provenance: Galerie Jacques Perrin, Paris ; Sotheby's London sale, 7 December 2000, lot 166; Acquired by the current owner during the latter sale. An Empire mahogany and green patinated wood bureau a caissons, attributed to Jacob Desmalter This pedestal desk is typical of the architectural forms, influenced by Antiquity, that were adopted under the Consulate and continued into the Empire period. Jacob Desmalter was one of the most representative cabinet-makers of this period, often drawing inspiration from the designs of architects Charles Percier and Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. Two drawings of a chest of drawers and a pedestal desk, both with lion monopod uprights (see Fig. 1-2), are reminiscent of the general structure of our piece. A similar pedestal desk from the Ledoux-Lebard collection was sold at Artcurial Paris on 20 June 2006, lot 166.