Exceptional and very rare desk with a slant front and a double fitted interior! A unique piece!
Entirely veneered in walnut burl with blackened frames and profiles, the upper part features the classic slant front containing a fitted interior with a wavy profile, six small drawers centered by splendid silvered bronze knobs.
In the lower part, the cabinet consists of two doors decorated with a large double panel centered by a large embossed and silvered copper sheet escutcheon; inside, the large compartment is divided horizontally into two halves by a shelf, the upper one composed of a second fitted interior with six small drawers, the lower part free.
A unique example of its kind, it was most likely designed to be used primarily as a desk; in fact, the lower part of the cabinet lends itself very well as a container for documents. The doors are fixed to the cabinet with triple-hinged hinges, moreover the lock that allows them to be closed is a triple closure (on the left door, at the top and bottom), these features make the closure of the doors very sturdy and secure, almost like a safe, which was what was needed to keep documents of a certain interest safe.
The construction of the cabinet seems to be purely Lombard even if there are some details that are not or do not seem to be: for example, there is no small raised edge on the top, here consisting of a solid walnut board, which Lombard slant-fronts usually have. A second rather unique thing is the construction of the back in large poplar and chestnut boards, completely interlocking; a third element quite unusual for Lombard furniture from the first half of the 18th century is the presence of the two large embossed and silvered copper sheet escutcheons and the knobs of the drawers of the upper fitted interior, also silvered.
On furniture such as Lombard chests of drawers and slant-fronts of this era, escutcheons and knob rosettes in embossed copper sheet are sometimes found, sometimes probably silvered, as this piece suggests.
Dimensions: height 110 x 109 x 54 cm.
