Library Steps in Turned Beech, Treads Covered in Gilt-Tooled Green Leather, Circa 1940

These library steps feature a structure in turned beech with baluster uprights, marked by rings and surmounted by finials, joined in the upper part by a transverse bar serving as a handhold. Three generous treads, covered in empire green leather highlighted with a gilt-tooled frieze along the edge, rise in tiers, the structure stiffened throughout by turned stretchers.

This type of library steps, descended from the library step-stools of the 19th century, gave rise in the 20th century to careful interpretations in which the gilt-tooled leather recalls the bindings it stands beside; a spirit found in the work of Jacques Adnet and in the French ateliers of the 1940s.

Condition report: Good general condition. Beech with a fine old patina; the green leather showing honest wear and rubbing from use, the gilt tooling still legible. Sound and stable structure. A library object par excellence, as functional as it is decorative, which may also serve as a tiered display stand.