If you want to own an antique furniture piece belonging to Egyptian royalty, then you could buy a writing table for Dh645,000.
This rectangular, 30 inch high and 48 inch wide table is made of ebonised wood and is set with gilt bronze and crystal, while the top is veneered in shagreen.
This piece was made by Maison Jansen, one of the most important decorating firms in France.
Patrick Gallagher, founder, Patrick Gallagher Decoratives & Design told
Emirates Business: "The marriage of several soft and sensuous surfaces from nature, shagreen and wood, with the harder and cooler inventions of man, gilt-bronze and crystal, make this a magnificent union of style and artistry. The clean lines of the desk and the rather simple architecture of its components belie the intricacy, artistry and craftsmanship of this piece. This is a piece that is all about proportion and the exquisite use of materials."
Maison Jansen was founded in 1880 by Dutch-born Jean-Henri Jansen and is considered the first truly global design firm, serving clients in Europe, Latin America, North America and the Middle East by 1900.
Maison Jansen's clients included, among others, the Rotchilds, the Rockefellers, Edward VII (Duke of Windsor), Queen Elisabeth II and John and Jacqueline Kennedy, The Shah of Iran, King Farouk Egypt's last reigning monarch and other members of his family as well.
Maison Gerard, the New York-based antique firm that has put this table up for sale purchased it from a French family at an auction in France. Gerard Widdershoven, founder, Maison Gerard, said: "The French family we bought this table from acquired it from the dispersal auctions of the contents of the Palaces in Egypt.
"These sales were organised by Sotheby's with the cooperation of famous French auctioneer and author Maurice Rheims.
"King Farouk was known as one of the world's biggest collectors. His collections consisted among others of gold watches, varied collections of coins, stamps, glassware, porcelain and furniture.
"Following his abdication of the throne on July 26th 1952, his collections were seized and later sold by the Egyptian Government in a series of important sales and auctions called "The Palace Collections of Egypt" at the Kubbah Palace, Cairo, Egypt. It is at one of these auctions that our desk would have been purchased by its previous owner.
"This desk came from the Alexandria Palace and would have been used by Queen Farida.
"However, unfortunately we have been unable to verify with certainty this provenance.
"The style of this desk, which is made of ebonised wood and is set with gilt bronze and crystal, with a top veneered in Shagreen, would be a modernist 20th Century version of a Neo-Clasical design.
"All these materials and the construction of the desk are of the highest quality, hence its price."
From the beginning Maison Jansen combined traditional furnishings with influences of new trends including Anglo-Japanese style, the Arts and Crafts movement, and Turkish style. In the 1890s Maison Jansen established its own atelier and produced furniture in contemporary designs, as well as in the Louis XIV, Louis XVI, Directoire, and Empire styles.
Gallagher added: "I can see this lovely desk in a boudoir as a writing table, a very Art Deco / Moderne boudoir that evokes the great Hollywood movie sets of the 1930's (think Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers) with sweeping fabric curtains and stylishly slick floors.
"However, it would be equally as comfortable in a more tailored study, complete with panelled walls, albeit more moderne paneling, and a more modern carpet beneath it."
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