Antique Tables - Item 4181
Small Gothic Table or Writing Desk

This small table or writing desk is a reminder that big things can come in small packages, when it comes to 19th century Gothic design.  Likewise, the true beauty and artistry may not be evident on first glance and sometimes are on the sides, not the front of an object.  Looking at this table from the front, one might think it is a pleasant little writing desk decorated with quatrefoils on the frieze around the top an on the stretcher.  But when viewed from the side, it is a tour-de-force of Flamboyant Gothic design.
When we say "flamboyant" we may imply "over the top" in terms of decorative carving but the origin of the term is something quite different in French, where its root is flamme or flame.  There, flamboyant refers to something flaming, as in the flame-like figure into which the top of the pointed, Gothic arch is transformed.  In some cases, as on the sides of this table, the flame has morphed into a fleur-de-lys, making the table a cherished example of French Gothic revival artistry.  What we wind particularly enchanting is the use of lancet arches to create open fenestrage or tracery in as part of an overall pedestal design.
There is a drawer running the length of the table, leading us to think that its intended purpose had been as a writing desk.  Unlike so many 19th century writing desks we have encountered, we are delighted to report that no ink has been spilled to stain the interior of the drawer!
 

Ader-Tajan, Collection Bruno Perrier Haute Epoque (Catalog for Sale at Auction on April 6, 1992 at the Hôtel Drouot, Paris); Boccador, Jacqueline, Le Mobilier Français du Moyen Age à la Renaissance, Editions d'Art Monelle Hayot (Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, 1988); Thirion, Jacques, Le Mobilier du Moyen Age et de la Renaissance en France (Editions Faton, Dijon, 1998); Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène, Le Mobilier Médiéval (Georges Bernage, editor) (Editions Heimdal, 2003)
 

This small table can serve a number or functions.  While the notion of a writing desk may be somewhat outmoded, it could support a computer or printer in today's home office, or act as an end table or behind a sofa in a living room.