1920s Victorian Tortoiseshell Bamboo & Japanned Lacquer Bonheur Du Jour Writing Desk

Details

Description

A rare and striking Victorian-era English Colonial bamboo Bonheur du Jour, crafted in the late 19th century, in the style … Read more A rare and striking Victorian-era English Colonial bamboo Bonheur du Jour, crafted in the late 19th century, in the style of Maison Perret & Vibert, France.

This tall, narrow, multifunctional piece beautifully merges utility with exotic elegance—serving as a compact drop-front writing desk, vanity table and étagère,
Key Features:

Materials: Finely worked bamboo with a warm tortoiseshell-toned finish, complemented by hand-painted Japanned lacquer panels.

Lacquer Decoration:

Front drop-down desk panel adorned with golden and reddish floral motifs.

Central top panel features birds (possibly pheasants) perched amid flowering branches, rendered in gold, red, and green.

Side panels and shelving also decorated with delicate lacquered designs in the Chinoiserie taste.

Structure:

One small drawer with brass pull below the writing surface.

Two upper display shelves.

Two lower open shelves.

A tilting mirror at the top (rare and functional), adding to its hall-stand appeal.

Decorative upper bamboo crest that may serve as a small rack or purely ornamental.

A rare and captivating example of the Anglo-Japanese aesthetic movement at its height, this bonheur du jour — the quintessentially feminine French writing desk — is built from bamboo with faux-tortoiseshell lacquer panels and japanned details throughout. The form is delicate: a fitted upper cabinet for correspondence and storage above a leather-inset writing surface, raised on slender bamboo legs. The tortoiseshell effect, achieved through layered lacquer work, lends each panel a warm amber depth that shifts in natural light.

Bonheurs du jour of this type were produced for the luxury market in London and Paris during the 1880s–1890s, when japonisme and the bamboo aesthetic were at their fashionable peak. Few survive in this condition. This is a piece for a collector or a room that needs a singular object — a boudoir, a study, a dressing room corner. See less