A Bureau Plat (French for Writing Table) usually has drawers directly underneath the writing surface to store writing implements, so the table could be used as a desk.
Antique Bureau Plat’s usually have divisions for inkwells, the powder tray and blotters in the drawers and the surface is usually leather or baize which was less hostile to the quill or fountain pen than a hard wood top would have been.
The bureau plat is supported on four legs usually with ormolu detail throughout and was often placed in the library, where the gentlemen would do the business transactions.
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