Paul Iribe attr. amboyna burl cabinet secretary desk circa 1920

Magnificent cabinet attributed to Paul Iribe, created in the 1920s, powerfully illustrating the artist’s singular vocabulary at the crossroads of the decorative arts, drawing, and illustration. Crafted with amboyna burl veneer with striking figuring, the piece is distinguished by a complex vertical architecture, animated by a fall-front with a pronounced slope that breaks with the strict geometry of the structure. The tall, slender base, composed of four tapered legs with fine geometric motifs, lends the ensemble an almost graphic elegance, characteristic of Iribe’s research on line and silhouette. This verticality recalls certain stylized figures found in his drawings and decorative projects, where the human body becomes a structuring axis within the composition. The fall-front is adorned with a central figurative panel drawing a female angel, treated in a synthetic and sculptural manner. This motif directly evokes Iribe’s graphic universe, close to that of George Barbier and to certain illustrations published in Le Témoin, the review he founded in 1906. Opening onto a highly functional interior, the cabinet reveals a fitted workspace composed of multiple compartments and a leather-lined writing surface.

The lower section is centered by a drawer fitted with two handles in the form of stylized passementerie, a particularly characteristic detail of the period. This taste for transposing textile or organic elements into rigid decorative motifs can be found across several of his interior design projects. The piece as a whole reflects a transitional aesthetic between late Art Nouveau and emerging Art Deco, where the richness of materials and the sensuality of forms coexist with a clear intent toward modernity. This cabinet thus bears witness to Iribe’s singular contribution to French decorative arts, marked by a deeply personal and resolutely modern vision.