Writing Stand (Gradin) (Post Con.- Drawer #3 front)

A gradin is a piece of furniture with drawers and cubbyholes which goes on top of a desk to hold writing implements and materials. Nearly the entire surface of this gradin is covered with a colorful veneer of various exotic materials, including brass, tortoiseshell, copper, pewter, ebony, ivory, mother-of-pearl, and horn painted red, blue, orange, and green. An elaborate array of objects decorates the surface, including reclining figures, birds, animals, cupids, and vases of fruit and flowers.

This gradin was made to accompany the bureau Mazarin desk in the Getty collection. Maximilian Emanuel, the Elector of Bavaria, commissioned this desk and gradin, as he had developed a taste for French furniture when he was exiled in Paris around 1700. When the Getty purchased the desk in 1987, the desk and its gradin had been separated, sometime in the mid 1900s. Fortunately, an art dealer recognized the gradin in 2008 and the museum was able to reunite the pieces.