Drop-front desk (secrétaire à abattant or secrétaire en cabinet)

Sèvres Manufactory|Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix

porcelain ca. 1764, secretary ca. 1775 · Oak veneered with satin-wood, green and black-stained wood; gilt bronze, marble, soft-paste porcelain, silk · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Several related secretaries are known that have either a porcelain plaque or a marquetry roundel on the fall front and are signed or attributed to Roger Vandercruse. The son of a Flemish cabinetmaker, Vandercruse also used the French equivalent of his name, Lacroix. Typical of his oeuvre is the colorful cornflower and latticework marquetry. The decoration of the large Sèvres plaque, with its geometric pattern of ribbons and shells interspersed with diapered cartouches and garlands, is similar to that of useful wares, and thought to date to about 1764. Antedating the secretary by a decade, it may originally have been intended as the top for a small table. The maltese cross at the center of the plaque alludes to a special commission.

Artist

Sèvres Manufactory|Roger Vandercruse, called Lacroix

Date

porcelain ca. 1764, secretary ca. 1775

Medium

Oak veneered with satin-wood, green and black-stained wood; gilt bronze, marble, soft-paste porcelain, silk

Culture

French, Paris and Sèvres

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Samuel H. Kress Foundation, 1958