French 18th Century Louis XV Bureau Plat, Writing Desk
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
An imposing Louis XV ebonized writing table with finely chased gilt bronze mounts. The stepped moulded rectangular top inset with the original gilt-tooled leather above three frieze ...
Bronze
French 18th Century Louis XV Period Bureau Plat
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A magnificent and very high quality French 18th century Louis XV period Tulipwood, Kingwood, and ormolu Bureau Plat desk.
Ormolu
French 18th Century Louis XVI Period Bureau Plat, by Pierre Garnier
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A magnificent and very high quality French 18th century Louis XVI period kingwood, Charnwood, ormolu, and brass Bureau Plat, signed by Pierre Garnier.
Brass, Ormolu
18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat
Located in Berlin, DE
18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat An 18th century gilt-bronze mounted double-face desk or bureau plat with herring-bone marquetry.
Bronze
Mid 18th Century French Louis XVI Period Tulipwood and Ormolu Bureau Plat
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An elegant and high quality French 18th century Louis XVI period tulipwood and ormolu bureau plat desk.
Ormolu
Ebonized Leather top Bureau Plat
Located in Huntington, NY
Ebonized Leather top Bureau Plat/Desk, Louis XV period 3 working drawers on one side. Back side has 3 false drawers Circa, 1760 with one Key It's Old leather top in Useable but h...
Ormolu
Louis XV Tulipwood and Kingwood Bureau Plat
By Edward Holmes Baldock
Located in Miami, US
This elegant Louis XV bureau plat, dating from circa 1750, showcases the exquisite craftsmanship of its time. Constructed from tulipwood and kingwood, the desk features a luxurious l...
Bronze
Louis XVI Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Amaranth Bureau Plat
By Philippe Claude Montigny
Located in Kittery Point, ME
In the style of Montigny (Philippe-Claude Montigny, maitre in 1770), the rectangular tooled leather-lined top surrounded with a later ormolu border, above two frieze drawers and simu...
Bronze
Louis XVI Tulipwood Leather Top Bureau Plat Desk
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Impressive late 18th century French writing desk with a tooled black leather top, probably original, on a case with three drawers in front, having wreath escutcheons, and reverse of ...
Tulipwood
Antique Louis XV Bureau Plat or Leather Top Desk
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Impressive 18th Century Louis XV bureau plat handcrafted in classic style with mahogany and kingwood, featuring the original tooled oxblood leather top on a brass bound case with thr...
Brass
Majestic French Bureau Plat Desk antique According to Andre C. Boulle bronzed
Located in Berlin, DE
Root veneer on solid beech and oak. Extremely finely chiselled bronze. Slightly protruding, profiled tabletop and gold-imprinted leather insert, flanked by a grotesque mask on each c...
Wood
Louis XV Petite Mahogany and Kingwood Marquetry Kidney Writing Table, Paris 1870
Located in Germantown, MD
It could be used as its original purpose of reading or writing table or it could be used as a vanity with a mirror. 18th century bureau plats or writing tables were also called libra...
Bronze
Late 18th Century Bureau Plat
Located in Stamford, CT
Late 18th century to early 19th century writing table.
Wood
18th Century Louis XVI Bureau Plat
Located in Paris, FR
Rectangular shape bureau, mahogany and mahogany veneer. It comprises three drawers on the front and simulates three on the back. It stands on octogonal legs à facettes, which end...
Bronze
Italian Walnut 18th Century Bureau Plat
Located in Natchez, MS
Italian Louis XVI walnut bureau plat with three drawers, having carved rosette and swag decoration on the sides and fluted legs.
Walnut
Bureau plat
Located in New York, NY
A Directoire mahogany , 3 drawers in apron, with a brown leather inset top, with a free standing cartonnier, Continental, late 18th century
Bronze
18th c southern french bureau plat
Located in Los Angeles, CA
old french desk waxed wood with antique french hardware .
Unavailable
H 30.5 in W 64.25 in D 31.13 in
Sophisticated 18th Century French Louis XV Kingwood and Ormolu Bureau Plat Desk
Located in San Francisco, CA
A sophisticated 18th century French Louis XV kingwood and ormolu bureau plat desk, with one long drawer flanked by two shorter drawers, with a later black leather and gold embossed w...
Unavailable
H 31.5 in W 74.5 in D 44.5 in
French Boulle Bureau Plat / Library Table, Late 18th Century
By André-Charles Boulle
Located in Charleston, SC
Exceptional French Boulle bureau plat has the English feel of a library table with the four rams head mounted bronze fluted legs terminating in a bronze caster stylized as a beehive....
Brass, Bronze, Ormolu
Louis XV Bureau Plat
Located in Paris, FR
Parisian work from the mid-18th century. Dimensions: 77 cm H 129 cm L x 62 cm D.
Unavailable
H 29.25 in W 49.25 in D 25.5 in
18th Century Kingwood and Tulipwood Parquetry Serpentine Bureau-Plat
Located in London, GB
The shaped, moulded rectangular top inset with a green tooled leather writing surface above a long frieze drawer, flanked by two short shaped drawers and with pull-out slides to each...
Brass
Régence Great Bureau Plat
Located in Paris, FR
These blackened wood and ormolu desk opens with five drawers, the back made as trompe l'oeil. Its lays four curved legs finished by hind hoof. Parisian work from the first half of ...
Louis XV provincial fruitwood bureau plat
Located in San Francisco, CA
Louis XV provincial fruitwood bureau plat, the rectangular leather-inset top with molded edge above two frieze drawers, and two false drawers on the opposite side, over a shaped apro...
Bronze
Unavailable
H 30.71 in W 63 in D 31.5 in
Bureau-Plat, Paris 1785, Lebesque, 18th Century Writing Desk, French, Signed
Located in Bamberg, DE
Paris, C. Lebesgue, circa 1785. Stamped "IME" and "C. Lebesgue" for Robert-Claude Lebesgue, born 1749, master 1771. Mahogany veneered on oak with fine, linear brass inlays, origin...
Wood
Louis XV Period Walnut Bureau Plat
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A Louis XV period walnut bereau plat with cabriole legs terminating in "pied de biche" feet.
Walnut
Italian bureau plat, possibly Genoese
Located in San Francisco, CA
The rectangular leather-lined top with moulded edge above a shaped frieze fitted with three drawers, the reverse with simulated drawers, the sides mounted with a classical male beard...
Unavailable
H 31.89 in W 44.69 in D 22.64 in
Early 18th c. Mahogany Centre Writing Table / Bureau Plat .
Located in Milan, IT
Very elegant ,early 18th France centre bureau plat, with leather top, also in the two pull out slides, gilt bronze trim, and two drawers with original key.
Bronze
LOUIS XV WALNUT PROVENCAL BUREAU PLAT
Located in Natchez, MS
Louis XV Walnut Provencal Bureau Plat with leather top and original ormolu mounts. Great size.
Walnut, Leather
Regence Kingwood Bureau Plat With Ormolu Mounts
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Franch regence ormolu-mounted kingwood bureau plat with leather writing surface
Ormolu
Louis XVI Period Bureau-plat
Located in Banbury, GB
A FINE & RARE LATE 18TH.CENTURY LOUIS XVI PERIOD BRASS & EBONY BANDED MAHOGANY BUREAU-PLAT, WRITING SLIDES TO BOTH SIDES. REPLACED GOLD TOOLED LEATHER WRITING SURFACES
Brass
Unavailable
H 31.5 in W 55.12 in D 31.5 in
18th Century Italian Painted Louis XV Bureau Plat or Writing Desk in Walnut
Located in Firenze, IT
A charming Italian Louis XV bureau plat or writing desk. The desk in solid walnut wood features a beautiful painted decoration with antique patina. Single central drawer on one sid...
Walnut
French Louis XV Period Bureau Plat
Located in Charleston, SC
An important and rare French Louis XV period bureau plat made of solid mahogany, mahogany veneer, and oak. The piece represents the beginning of the use of mahogany during the begin...
Louis XVI Mahogany Bureau Plat with Ormolu Mounted
Located in Madrid, ES
Louis XVI mahogany Bureau Plat with ormolu mounted. Four drawers in front and the back simulated. Also removable trays on either side. Desk and trays with old leather.
Ormolu
Fine Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Marquetry Bureau Plat
Located in New York, NY
A fine Louis XV period ormolu-mounted kingwood and tulipwood bureau plat, or desk, the rectangular top with black and gilt-tooled leather insert with molded brass edge “lingotiere” a...
Bronze
French Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Amarante Bureau Plat
Located in Nice, Cote d' Azur
Rectangular top with tooled light brown leather writing surface within a gilt-surround, above three drawers raised on cabriole legs, terminating by scrolling acanthus-cast sabots. A...
Ormolu
Louis XV Kingwood Bureau Plat With Gilt Bronze Mounts
Located in New York, NY
A kingwood marquetry Louis XV bureau plat with gilt bronze mounts and cabriole legs, ending in gilt bronze sabots with acanthus leaf ornamentation; the original leather inset top bor...
Ormolu
A Fine Neoclassic Mahogany and Brass Bureau Plat
Located in New York, NY
Having a row of 3 drawers on each side. One drawer having an inscription from the eboniste.
Mahogany
Unavailable
H 47.25 in W 55.91 in D 22.45 in
Louis XVI Ormolu-Mounted Marquetry Bureau Plat and Cartonnier
By Mathieu-Guillaume Cramer
Located in London, Middlesex
Veneered in rosewood and stained wood of hearts and diamonds intertwined, ornamentation ormolu; the bureau plat, having a rectangular top with a black Moroccan leather, the frieze ha...
Rosewood
Louis XV "Bureau Plat" Stamped by Delorme and Lardin
By Adrien Delorme
Located in Paris, FR
Great desk inlaid with amaranth and tulipwood. Its belt opens with three drawers ornamented with gilt bronze. Its top is covered with leather and lined with gilt bronze. This desk is...
Mahogany and oak writing table (bureau-plat) by Fidelys Schey
By Fidelys Schey
Located in New York, NY
This desk has a rectangular gilt and tooled brown leather-inset top with molded surround. Each side has a writing slide above a three-paneled frieze of drawers with cartouche-shaped,...
Ormolu
Choosing the perfect writing desk or writing table is a profoundly personal journey, one that people have been embarking upon for centuries.
Queen Atossa of Persia, from her writing table circa 500 B.C., is said to have been the originator of the art of handwritten letters. Hers was reportedly the first in a long and colorful history of penned correspondence that grew in popularity alongside literacy. The demand for suitable writing desks, which would serve the composer of the letters as well as ensure the comfort of the recipient naturally followed, and the design of these necessary furnishings has evolved throughout history.
Once people began to seek freedom from the outwardly ornate styles of the walnut and rosewood writing desks and drafting tables introduced in the name of Queen Victoria and King Louis XV, radical shifts occurred, such as those that materialized during the Art Nouveau period, when designers longed to produce furniture inspired by the natural world’s beauty. A prime example is the work of the famous late-19th-century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí — his rolltop desk featured deep side drawers and was adorned with carved motifs that paid tribute to nature. Gaudí regularly combined structural precision with decorative elements, creating beautiful pieces of furniture in wood and metal.
Soon afterward, preferences for sleek, geometric, stylized forms in furniture that saw an emphasis on natural wood grains and traditional craftsmanship took hold. Today, Art Deco desks are still favored by designers who seek to infuse interiors with an air of luxury. One of the most prominent figures of the Art Deco movement was French decorator and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. With his use of neoclassical motifs as well as expensive and exotic materials such as imported dark woods and inlays of precious metals for his writing desks, Ruhlmann came to symbolize good taste and modernity.
The rise in appreciation for Scandinavian modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary writing desks. It employs the “no fuss” or “less is more” approach to creating a tasteful, sophisticated space. Sweden’s master cabinetmaker Bruno Mathsson created gallery-worthy designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto never viewed himself as an artist, but, like Mathsson, his furniture designs reflected a fondness for organic materials and a humanistic approach. Danish designers such as Hans Wegner introduced elegant shapes and lines to mid-century desks and writing tables, often working in oak and solid teak.
From vintage desks to contemporary styles, 1stDibs offers a broad spectrum of choices for conducting all personal and business writing and reading activities.
Top interior designers show — and tell — us how to create delectable spaces for hosting dinner parties.
Fans of the French film star may be surprised to learn that he had a flair for furniture with sleek lines and disco-era flash.
Like other pieces in the firm’s Candy Box collection, the cheerful limited-edition design showcases French craft.
Whether you’re just moving in or ready to give your home a makeover, our guide will give you pointers on tables that are fitting for every room, nook and hallway.
From his massive collaborative workshop in a former paper factory, the designer concocts funky furniture from disused materials, as well as luxe hotel interiors like the new Mix Brussels.
The designer’s innovative use of an unexpected material gives this console a lift.
The stately piece brings both gravitas and whimsy to any work space.
Use them as tables or stools, indoors or out.