A Parisian inlaid bonheur du jour desk
Rosewood, palisander, mahogany, and boxwood veneers on oak and softwood, white marble top, gilt brass and bronze mountings. An elegant ladies writing desk on four tapering square section supports, with a sloping writing surface and raised upper section with two doors concealing four drawers, a pigeon hole, and two recessed compartments with sliding doors. Finely inlaid with trellis pattern entwined with ribbons, all surfaces with gilt moulded edges. Stamped behind the apron DE LOOSE JME. Some minor losses, one drawer pull broken off (but included), lock plate missing, replaced key, the marble cracked. H 120, W 66, D 43 cm.
Paris, Daniel de Loose, third quarter 18th C.
Daniel de Loose settled in Paris in the 1760s and attained the title of master craftsman very soon after in 1767. He was praised by his contemporaries for his "exécution très soignée" which gained him many customers. The main focus of his furniture designs is on the marquetry in rosewood, satinwood, lemon wood and mahogany depicting flowers, trophies, chequerboard designs, figures, and landscapes, partially accented by ivory inlays. Jean Nicolay writes that de Loose saw bronze mountings as only a secondary element of design.
Literature
This cabinetmaker listed in Kjellberg, Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, Paris 2008, p. 275 ff.