Bureau cabinets are among the finest creations of 18th-century Central European furniture art. The genre probably originated in England.

Furniture of this kind usually consists of three sections: the top part most often surmounts a three-drawer commode. Into the middle section is built a lockable, fold-down flap; this serves as the writing surface. In the middle of the top part, which features a number of drawers, there is a compartment with a door. This type of bureau cabinet is also called a tabernacle cabinet on account of this compartment, which recalls the tabernacle found in a Catholic church.

Such is the design followed by this Hungarian oak bureau cabinet that passed into the collection through the generosity of the abovementioned donor.

Most surviving bureau cabinets are from the Rococo period. Veneered pieces are generally embellished with leaf and flower ornamentation along with ribbon inlay. Less ornamented pieces made from non-veneered wood - the example in the picture among them - are embellished with scallop, scroll and leaf carving.

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