Trained in the workshop of his half-brother, the ébèniste and marchand Noël Gerard, (before 1690-1736), Dubois received the training and exposure to allow him to create works of extraordinary quality and diversity. Among some of his most exemplary works are a group of desks including one in the collection of the Louvre and another attributed to Dubois at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Louvre example, dated to circa 1745, is applied with cast chutes which run down the length of the legs to the sabots as well as a boldly shaped frieze recessed in both the center and flanking drawers and separated by mounts. Both of these features are distinctive Dubois elements shared with the offered lot. An unsigned bureau plat with similar features to the offered lot but inlaid with floral sprays is illustrated in F.J.B. Watson, The Wrightsman Collections, New York, 1966, vol. II, p. 298, no. 147. A similar bureau plat by Dubois was sold Sotheby's Monaco, 25-27 November 1979, lot 146. Another example was sold Sotheby's New York, 28 March 1987, lot 88.