FLAT DESK ANCIENT LOUIS XVI PERIOD IN MAHOGANY, BLOND THREE DRAWERS, 18th CENTURY

Biography

The history of the office
Madame de Genlis, governess of the children of France, writes in her memoirs: I was the first woman who had an office, which was much criticized and then almost all women had one.
The statement does not entirely correspond to reality since the office of Marie de Medici has reached us. And it is difficult to imagine Madame de Lafayette or Madame de Sévigné without a writing table. The fact remains that the desk has long been considered a purely masculine piece of furniture. There was a single copy in each home reserved for the master of the house. The invention of the writing table is however very old, its appearance dates back to the Byzantine Empire. A little later, the presence of the writing table with turned legs is attested in many monasteries of the Middle Ages.
It is there, moreover, that the office will find its name taken from the woolen fabric, homespun, with which the monks cover their table before placing the precious and fragile parchments on it. Homecloth gradually disappears in favor of finer cloth or leather, often dark green, a color reputed to be good for eyesight. Soon, this rug is no longer laid but integrated into the furniture. We are in the 17th century and the office has just been born.
The flat desk itself is distinguished from the writing table by its drawers in the belt. It will experience an extraordinary popularity throughout the 18th century. Over the years, the office came into common use. it will become more complicated, adopting various forms but the flat desk will never lose its rights and will coexist with cylinder or speed bump models.
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