Two Louis XVI mahogany and wood à volets tables, circa 1780, stamped by Ferdinand Bury, one delivered for the Château de Versailles

Ferdinand Bury, cabinetmaker, master in 1774.

Several stamped tables à volets are listed:

-Granville, 1st November 1988

-Paris , palais Galliera, Couturier Nicolay, 7 February 1976, lot 83

Others still stamped but with some variations are known:

-Christie's Paris, Collection Beistegui, 10 September 2018, lot 10 

-Christie's Paris, 15 September 2016, lot 122

-Sotheby's Monaco, 21 February 1987, lot 958 bearing the mark traditionally associated with the Château des Tuileries.

As far as we know, this small, modestly priced table, which was in everyday use and very practical, was not the subject of a recorded commission but rather of a one-off order to satisfy an immediate need of the king, his family or his administration.

Ferdinand Bury was employed by the Crown Furniture Guard and worked, among other things, in the furniture shops of the great royal residences. This is evidenced by several pieces of furniture bearing the Tuileries or Versailles marks, a secrétaire à cylindre, sale 7 December 1987 lot 444 and above all a console bearing a Versailles mark similar to the Bury table we are presenting: sale Baron Ribeyre, collection of the ducs d'Audiffret Pasquier, 29 March 2024, lot 196 purchased by the Château de Versailles.