A rare Louis XV-period transforming table, stamped by Jean-Pierre Latz, in rosewood on a satinwood background framed by amaranth fillets.

Its top, scalloped all round, is inlaid with a dynamic medallion, centred on a ribbon-adorned lyre and winding through a foliage scroll motif.

The quality of the design, the precision of the cut-outs in the composition and the frame, as well as the perfect elegance of the contrasts created by the various woods – rosewood, satinwood, boxwood and amaranth – attest to work of the very highest quality.

The lyre is a relatively uncommon motif on small pieces of furniture. Here, it evokes both the period’s fascination with the arts and the piece’s intended use. This piece was designed for reading, writing and music.

The satin-finished band, scalloped on all four sides, is accentuated by a frame of amaranth with supple curves.
It is supported by four strongly curved amaranth legs with bevelled satin-finished sides, joined by a crossbar.

It is finished with enveloping gilded bronze feet, finely chiselled and openwork.

Drouot, Paris, 1 March 1984, estimated at 373,000 francs
Private collection, Switzerland.
Sotheby’s, London, ‘Silver and Genoese Furniture from a Swiss Private Collection’, 27 May 2009, lot 12 (sold for £31,250).
Robbig Collection

Le mobilier Français, Le meuble d’ébénisterie, by Guillaume Janneau, Édition de l’Amateur, 1993, page 75, under item number and photograph 79

Le mobilier français du XVIIIe siècle, by Giacomo Wannenes, Bocca Editori, Milan, 1998, page 111, where it was stated that in 1984 it had been valued at 373,000 francs.