This elegant bureau plat, with its sober lines and understated gilt bronze ornaments, epitomises the restrained neoclassical style for which Etienne Levasseur was an early proponent, along with his contemporaries such as Jean-François Leleu and Jean-François Oeben,.
Among related examples are a bureau plat attributed to Georg Haupt, from the collection of the duc de Choiseul and subsequently the duc de Penthièvre at the château de Chanteloup, sold Sotheby's, London, 17 December 2008, lot 96 and a bureau plat by Denis Louis Ancellet, sold Christie's, Paris 17 November 2010, lot 283.
Although the present lot does not bear the stamp of Levasseur, the understated ornamentation of this bureau plat, along with the sleek, elegant mahogany veneer relates closely to a bureau plat by Etienne Levasseur, sold Sotheby's, London, 17 May 2022, lot 75.