School desk and its abacus, 1930s

A solid wood school desk, one place, as found in French classrooms between the wars. It was my grandfather's childhood desk, born in the 1920s. The slanted top lifts up to reveal a large compartment where notebooks and pencil cases were stored. The backrest retains its original abacus, two rods and their painted wooden beads, as well as the groove carved for the pen holder and the spot for the inkwell. A slatted shelf serves as a footrest, supported by four tapered legs connected by turned stretchers. The patina is that of an object truly used: honeyed wood, notches, ink stains. It is a small size, to scale for the children of that time: 66 cm high and 55 cm wide. It will find its place in a bedroom, or as a side table in a room where one appreciates objects that have lived.