Dactylo table-desk, 1941
The secretary desk, created early in 1941, was doubtless the result of a specific order. The sole point of reference is the desk made for the CPDE in 1935, from which the new model borrowed the dual perpendiculars of the frame and the suspended compartments usable for different combinations of drawers. The similarity stops there: the bent steel legs are tapered and joined on three sides by broad, welded bent steel braces, and protrude ostensibly beyond the oak top. Several variants offered different length tops (150, 120 and 100 cm) and interchangeable fittings combining metal and wood, made by Vauconsant. During the War this secretary desk was available to local firms, with modifications on request: for example, the small bookkeeper’s desk made for a bank in Nancy. Registered in 1946, the BD model with wood fittings was sold until 1950 in parallel with the Dactylo BDM metal desk, which had a different frame.