small, dainty writing table, introduced in the 1760s, which became one of the most popular varieties of French 18th-century furniture. A block of storage compartments, set along the back of the top and often partly enclosed, incorporates a drawer, cupboards, and shelves and is sometimes topped by a decorative brass or ormolu gallery. High, slender legs are often joined by a shelf that acts as a stretcher, and the frieze (decorative horizontal band) contains a drawer. Some bonheurs du jour are fitted with toilet accessories.

The finest examples are decorated with intricate marquetry veneers and are mounted with ormolu and sometimes with plaques of Sèvres porcelain. The earliest oval forms represent some of the finest examples of the transition between the curved lines of the Louis XV style and the more severe, straight lines of the Louis XVI style.