LOUIS XV STYLE "DE L'ABBÉ TERRAY" FLAT DESK Based on a model by Nicolas Pierre Severin In satinwood veneer, decorated with chased and gilded bronze, the waist opening onto three drawers, the curved legs surmounted by shells and foliage. H. Height: 79 cm (31 in.) l. 201 cm (79 ¼ in.) P. 98 cm (38 ½ in.) Comparative bibliography: C. Mestdagh, L'Ameublement d'Art Français 1850-1900, Les Éditions de l'Amateur, Paris, 57, 283 and 284. C. Payne, Paris, La Quintessence du Meuble au XIXe siècle, Éditions Monelle Hayot, 2018, p.148. A Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted and satinwood bureau plat, after the model by Nicolas Pierre Severin Our elegant flat desk, with its monumental proportions, is a replica of the famous Abbé Terray desk, which has been in the Musée du Louvre since 1924 (inv. OA 7805). The original was made around 1760 for Louis XV's last Controller General of Finances and is stamped by Nicolas Pierre Severin, Master in 1757. Better known for his work as a restorer, some authors have suggested that he acted as restorer and that the desk was the work of Joseph Baumhauer. This model was very popular in the 19th century, as can be seen from the stamped examples made by the greatest cabinet-makers of the period, such as Henri Dasson, Alfred Beurdeley, Paul Sormani and Gervais Durand. Rare on the market, the latest examples to come up for sale in recent years include : - Christie's Paris, 23 April 2013, lot 575 (signed Sormani and dated 1881); - Sotheby's New York, 22 April 2010, lot 128 (signed Beurdeley); - Sotheby's New York, 14 April 2016, lot 614 (signed E. Laurent Rue Charonne). It should be noted that all these copies are smaller than ours, which is the same size as the original copy in the Louvre.