"Opening" the decorative arts collection

They may look like flat-front desks or cabinets, but many objects in the J. Paul Getty Museum’s Decorative Arts collection contain secret keyholes, drawers, writing surfaces, and private cubbies that offer a fascinating glimpse into the world of a wealthy patron living in the 17th and 18th centuries.

One of the oldest cabinets in the Getty collection is a kabinettschrank, or display cabinet.

Though elegantly restrained in its exterior, each of the four sides of this cabinet opens to reveal an unexpectedly complex series of drawers, as seen below. Collectors from the early 1600s would have used cabinets of this kind to store such rare and exotic objects as medals, gems, or shells.

The cabinet reflects the tastes and interests of its owner through biblical, allegorical, historical, and mythological subjects and symbols decorating the fronts of the doors, drawers, and panels.

Various masters would have executed the cabinet's diverse decoration, although only one can be named—the Dutch carver Albert Janszoon Vickenbrinck, who signed several reliefs with his monogram, ALVB, including one depicting the death of Lucretia (legendary heroine of Rome), as shown above right.

The Getty Museum's collection includes several types of desks, notably from the 18th century. One particularly extraordinary example is a Rococo mechanical table seen below that displays two of the characteristics for which the ébéniste (cabinetmaker) Jean-François Oeben is well known: fine marquetry and moveable fittings.

This table would have served a double purpose for a wealthy woman, as both a writing and dressing table. With the turn of a key in the small hole in the table's side (the bottom hole in the image shown at the left), the top automatically slides back and the drawer below opens, revealing lidded compartments and a book rest.

Oeben’s mechanical table is small, portable, and would have been used by a woman. In contrast is the Getty’s French rolltop desk, shown below, made by ébéniste Bernard Molitor. Judging from its size and business function, this grand piece would have been commissioned by a male. The desk was originally designed to sit in the middle of a room, where it could be seen from all sides; the gilt bronze mounts that decorate the lower frieze once continued around the back.

When the rolltop is raised, as seen below, a writing slide may be pulled forward, revealing dummy drawer fronts that match the interior desk drawers above.

The image at the left reveals additional writing slides that pull out at the sides, perhaps for assistants to take dictation.

In the latter half of the 18th century, French rooms were designed to be smaller and more intimate than previous imposing domestic spaces. This sparked the popularity of furniture such as the secrétaire, the French term for case pieces with fronts that open or extend into larger objects with vertical or slant-topped writing surfaces, drawers, and cubbies.

MONTIGNY SECRÉTAIRE
Intricate marquetry designs in tortoiseshell, brass, and pewter adorn the front and sides of this secrétaire, shown below, made in the style called the “Boulle revival,” a direct nod to the extended popularity of Andres Charles Boulle, cabinetmaker to King Louis XIV. Almost 100 years later, his talent was still emulated by ébénistes such as Montigny.

In fact, this secrétaire was made with marquetry pieces from Boulle’s time. The panels that cover the exterior of the desk are tabletops from the late 1600s. One tabletop forms the front, cut in half to allow for both the fall-front writing surface and a cupboard door beneath. The second top has been cut along its length and used to decorate both sides of the secrétaire.

LELEU SECRÉTAIRE
Although it looks like a completely closed form, the secrétaire shown below opens out for use. With the insertion and turn of a winding lever, the center of the front rises from vertical to horizontal and unfolds to form a wide, leather-covered writing surface deep enough to hold a large open folio.

Different from other secrétaires in the collection, most of the drawers open at the sides of the piece, operated with a clever locking mechanism. When the uppermost drawer is unlocked, four drawers at each side of the secrétaire are released, as shown below. In fact, the entire series of eight drawers in the piece all lock with only two keys. This object has a lower and shallower form than other secrétaires, indicating that it may have been made for a specific location, such as a small, private library.

The ébéniste Jean-François Leleu, who built this secrétaire, was known for his mechanical systems, following in the footsteps of his master Oeben, maker of the aforementioned Mechanical Table.

CARLIN SECRÉTAIRE
The secrétaire shown here contains a fall front with a velvet-lined writing surface. This delicate model was not designed for serious work; rather, it was considered precious object to ornament a room and provide a place to lock up private letters.

Creating a writing desk like this one was a complicated process involving many stages and artists. First the dealer commissioned a design and ordered plaques from the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory. He then selected an ébéniste to make and veneer the carcass of the desk, leaving space for the plaques. A variety of craftsmen designed and made the gilt-bronze mounts. Finally, the ébéniste would assemble the desk and returned it to the dealer to be sold.

BEO SECRÉTAIRE
The creation of remarkable secrétaires was not reserved for the French. The German secrétaire shown below was designed in a rigidly architectonic style composed of classical elements, including columns and a cupola (small dome).

As shown below left, a reading stand is concealed above the fall front. The drawers can be rotated outwards when the mechanical fittings are activated. This secrétaire once had a large musical movement inside its base, which played a tune when the clock (seen above the fall front) struck the hour. The front is set with a gilt bronze medallion showing the philosopher Plato in profile.

The panel in the midsection lowers to reveal drawers and pigeonholes (shown above right) designed as small rooms, complete with parquetry walls and floors in different naturally colored woods.