Bureau bonheur du jour, Louis XVI style; France,... Lot 47

Bureau bonheur du jour, Louis XVI style; France, second half of the 19th century. Marquetry and gilt bronze. It has faults. Measurements: 148 x 85 x 53 cm. A bonheur du jour "daytime delight" is a type of lady's bureau. It was introduced in Paris by one of the interior decorators and purveyors of fashionable novelties called marchands-merciers around 1760, and quickly became intensely fashionable.The bonheur du jour is always very light and elegant, with a decorated back, as it was often not leaned against the wall but moved around the room. Its special feature is a raised back, which can form a small cupboard or a set of drawers, open shelves, which can be closed, or simply be fitted with a mirror. The upper part, often surrounded by a gallery of chiselled and gilded bronze, is used for small ornaments. Below the writing surface there is usually a single drawer. Early examples stood on slender cabriole legs; under the influence of neoclassicism, examples made after about 1775 had straight, tapering legs. Simon-Philippe Poirier had the idea of assembling bonheurs du jour with Sèvres porcelain plates of which he had a monopoly; the first bonheurs du jour assembled in Sèvres date from 1766-67. The desk was generally kept in the lady's bedroom, where it was used for breakfast and for writing letters during the day.