A simple but elegant “Bonheur du Jour”,(in French, bonheur-du-jour, meaning “daytime delight”,is a type of lady’s writing desk. It was introduced in Paris by one of the interior decorators and purveyors of fashionable novelties called marchands-merciers about 1760 and speedily became intensely fashionable. The bonheur du jour is always very light and graceful with its special characteristic of a raised back,as here in the form of drawers. Slender legs and a gold tooled leather writing surface are typical as in this example.