Small oval writing table (one of a pair)

The maker of this table and its pair, Roger Vandercruse, who was known by the French version of his name as Lacroix, had a successful career in Paris where he was part of a network of outstanding craftsmen. Three of his sisters married cabinetmakers, including Françoise Marguerite who was the wife of Jean François Oeben and after Oeben’s death married Jean Henri Riesener.



Vandercruse stamped his work with his initials: R.V.L.C. Although he made larger pieces such as commodes and secretaries, one of his specialties was the production of meubles volants, portable items of furniture such as small tables for different usages.



Letter writing was a much-practiced and fashionable activity amongst the literate in eighteenth-century Europe. Indeed, the English diarist Horace Walpole reported to a friend that “there have been known here [in Paris] persons who wrote to one another four times a day”.



In order to accommodate the frequent exchange of notes and letters, a variety of tables à ecrire was created. This oval table contains a drawer in the frieze which is fitted with a leather-covered writing surface and compartments for the storage of quills and related writing paraphernalia.



This small table relies for its visual effect on the restrained beauty of its tulipwood and bois satiné veneer applied to the flat surfaces, indicating that it was made during the 1770’s. Similarly, the elegance of the attenuated cabriole legs is emphasized by the fine gilt-bronze molding which travels from the hip mount down each leg to end in a sabot at the foot. A delicate gilt-bronze gallery highlights the curving shapes of both the top and the shelf below while at the same time preventing papers or objects from sliding off.