Metal desk, 1946
Sketched during the War, the desk with variable fittings was not made until 1946, with the development of the two metal desks: BM and Dactylo BDM.1 The principle was the same as for the 1934 CPDE model: a bent steel frame with four legs “in two perpendicular planes”, with a bent and welded rounded profile running around three sides. The tapered legs sometimes had stainless steel shoes. The frame supported a top made of oak, glass or masonite, and was fitted with suspended metal compartments for drawers and filing drawers. In 1947 these desks gradually began replacing the models designed during the War. The most popular variant, the two-compartment BM 11, was shown in the French section of the Milan Triennial in 1951. The BDM model is a smaller secretary desk equipped with a single compartment for small drawers and/or a fan filing drawer, and an optional steel tube footrest covered with sheet aluminum. Renamed Secrétaire desk, then no. 202, it was widely marketed during the 1950s, notably to banks and government offices.
1. These are the names given to these models in the drawings, catalogs and price lists. One must avoid confusing the Dactylo BDM metal desk with the Secrétaire desk, produced at the same time with a different frame. Similarly, the terms Direction and Secrétaire were later applied to the desks using the Compas base.