Royal Treasures from the Louvre: A Mechanical Desk

Featured in Royal Treasures from the Louvre: Louis XIV to Marie-Antoinette (on view through March 17, 2013 at the Legion of Honor), this extraordinary mechanical desk conceals a bookcase that rises from the back, and the drawers contain a writing slope, a removable laptop desk, and a flap that could be used as a prie-dieu for prayer. In the mid-eighteenth century, with the smaller private living quarters of fashionable interiors, tables that could serve several functions became one of the wonders of modern Paris. The cabinetmaker Oeben was known for his so-called mechanical tables and secrétaires.

Table à la Bourgogne (mechanical desk), ca. 1760. Jean-François Oeben (德语, active France; 1721–1763; master in 1761), cabinetmaker. Tulipwood, kingwood, sycamore, and purple wood on an oak carcase; gilt bronze; red Griotte marble, silk, glass, and velvet.