The Alice Hand-painted Reeded Glass Oak Bureau Desk

The Alice is a beautiful Mid-century Bureau with clean and simple lines and a slim profile; which has been meticulously restored and refinished with a natural solid oak finish, hand-painted details and reeded glass doors.

The lovely thing about this bureau is the simple design which has a retro mcm feel, making the perfect backdrop for bespoke hand-painted artwork; A Matisse inspired hand-painted botanical design has been added in off-white for a contemporary look in keeping with the mid century era. The design is bespoke and one of a kind.

The desk itself is made from solid oak, and there is no veneer on this piece; the surface has been hand stripped back to natural oak inside and out before adding the bespoke design and the whole thing sealed with 3 coats of a matt furniture oil, deliberately selected to avoid the natural wood turning more orange in tone. As a result the patina is a beautiful rustic natural oak with honey tones. 

This is a sympathetic restoration combined with a modern touch to create a piece that would fit into either a traditional or modern home.

In terms of storage, the lid lifts down to create a sturdy convenient workspace which would be great for working from home, and there are multiple compartments to store stationary and device chargers for example. For the more traditional of us, the desk is ideal to keep an envelope or a birthday card on hand too; and a lovely finishing touch is the miniature drawer inside, perfect for pens.

 Beneath the desk area is storage for books consisting of 2 compartments with 4 sliding glass doors. Each door is made strong glass with polished edges and has a little handle inset into the surface. The doors have been refinished with a reeded effect to modernise and these all slide smoothly.

As a finishing touch the hardware had been cleaned and reinstated to keep this bureau as original as possible.

In terms of condition, this piece is really good and solid, it is heavy so sturdy on its feet. The glass has no chips or cracks and slides smoothly. The pull down desk is really solid once down so makes a good working space. The surface of the wood has been refinished and shows the rustic characterful patina, and the paintwork is handpainted in terms of finish. The only thing of note is that the desk lid very slightly sits proud on one corner as shown in the photo, this is reflective of this piece being vintage and dating from the 1950s, however this does not affect the functionality and is not noticeable in situ.

This piece would be perfect in a hallway due to the slim profile, but I also feel whilst it has a contemporary feeling it could also suit a country home perfectly. It's a great little place to study or keep stationary bits, but also to look pretty as a functional piece of artwork.

The dimensions of the desk are approximately as follows...

Height 102cm

Width 61cm

Depth 38cm

Height of desk with lid down 73cm

Collection is welcomed from my home in Leicestershire, or UK Mainland delivery will be calculated at checkout, otherwise please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!