18th Century Italian Painted Bureau

An unusual 18th century Italian serpentine bureau of particularly attractive form, retaining its original painted decoration and wonderfully aged surface. The fall front opens to reveal a fitted interior with small drawers, compartments and a central arched recess. Below are three serpentine drawers, the shaped fronts decorated with painted borders and stylised foliate motifs, with further decoration continuing around the sides and fall. Of particularly pleasing proportions and unusual design, combining the practical form of a bureau with the decorative quality associated with Italian furniture of the period.