French Mechanical Desk by Beurdeley at M. S. Rau Antiques

This superb mechanical desk by famed French ebeniste Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdeley is both an artistic and engineering achievement. Adorned on the top and all sides with outstanding, classical inlaid tableaux of muses and putti studying astronomy and the arts, this elegant table is also abundantly decorated with cast gilt bronze, from the simple edging around the top and bold acanthus mounts on the corners and friezes, to the laurel leaf panels on the legs and caps on the ball feet. With the turn of a k