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Rococo Desks

ROCOCO STYLE

Rococo was an aesthetic movement in the fine and decorative arts in the 18th century that found its inspiration in nature and fostered an overall lightness and delicacy of form, construction and ornament in interior design. Rococo furniture, while greatly influenced by trends in Italy and Germany, is often called Louis XV style — the movement having reached its best expression during that sybaritic French king’s reign.

The term “rococo” is thought to be a portmanteau of the French words rocaille and coquilles — “rock” and “shells” — organic motifs frequently used in architecture and design of the style.

When it comes to authentic Rococo furniture's characteristics, it is above all sensuous and social. The furniture of earlier eras in Europe had been heavy in every sense; the Rococo period saw the appearance of light-framed upholstered armchairs, side chairs and occasional tables that could easily be moved to form conversational circles.

The signal detail of Rococo furniture design is the gently curved cabriole, or S-shaped chair-, table-, and cabinet-leg. It imitates the bend of a tree limb or a flower stem. In a further reference to nature, furnishings were often asymmetrical and painted white, or in soft, pastel shades. Rococo has become a timeless style, and as the furniture pieces presented on 1stDibs demonstrate, its playful, sculptural forms can provide visual excitement to contemporary, clean-lined spaces.

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Style: Rococo
Period: 19th Century
French Louis XV Style Bureau Desk
Located in Lisboa, Lisboa
Bureau desk with fine gilt ormolu mounts and veneers in king wood, satinwood and rosewood. The ornate marquetry surface adorned with gilt bronze ormolu. Fr...
Category

Mid-19th Century English Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Bronze

19th c. Swedish Rococo Painted Fall Front Desk
Located in Wichita, KS
A 19th century Swedish fall-front bureau in the Rococo style wearing beautiful black paint, circa 1800. One large drawer with key, scalloped apron, and slender cabriolet legs. There ...
Category

19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Wood, Paint

French Porcelain and Gilt Bronze Mounted Writing Desk
Located in London, GB
French porcelain and gilt bronze mounted writing desk French, 19th Century Height 116cm, width 91cm, depth 51cm This stunning bonheur du jour was made in France during the 19th...
Category

19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Ormolu

Venetian Rococo Style Walnut Secretary Lacquered by Ira Yeager
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Fantastic late 19th century Italian secretaire cabinet or bookcase made in the Venetian Rococo taste. Crafted from walnut the two-part case features a speckled lacquer finish centered by a cartouche shaped window with a painted bust by artist Ira Yeager (American 1938-2022). The bureau cabinet has a bombe shaped dresser base with a drop front diminutive writing table. The drop front has two storage drawers and a small pigeon hole storage above. Below the desk are two small drawers and two large storage drawers with rocaille patinated brass pulls. The dresser is supported by small cabriole legs with scrolled feet. The dresser is surmounted by a bookcase with a painted door depicting a nobleman holding a chicken. The painting is painted on board titled "Venezia" and signed by Yeager with a fictitious date of 1725. The door opens to a three-shelf bookcase. The case is topped with a pediment having a cartouche shaped window and corniced top. The entire secretary is speckled with a mustard yellow tone over a taupe background. This whimsical cabinet...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Brass

Related Items
French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat
Located in Montreal, QC
This fine piece dates from the third quarter of the 19th century and has many of the characteristics of a period piece, although made later. The mahogany is exceptionally well-chosen...
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1870s French Antique Rococo Desks

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Bronze

French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat
French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat
H 30 in W 57 in D 32 in
Antique English Adams Decorated Satinwood Drop-Front Desk, 18th-19th C
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique English Adam decorated drop-front desk offers satinwood construction with slant front having neoclassical reserve of woman and cherub in co...
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19th Century English Antique Rococo Desks

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Wood, Satinwood

French Louis XVI Style Roll Top Desk in Mahogany and Gilt Bronze
By Jean-Henri Riesener
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
An imposing Louis XVI style roll top desk in beautifully figured mahogany and having finely chased and gilded bronze mounts; the green marble top with a bronze gallery above three lo...
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1880s French Antique Rococo Desks

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Marble, Bronze

Desk French Style Writing Desk, Black Lacquer with Grey Leather Writing Surface
Located in Toronto, CA
We present a beautifully finished desk made in Italy by Selva in cherry wood, with a leather writing surface. This item has been recently re-stained by our expert team in a black lac...
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20th Century Italian Rococo Desks

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Leather, Cherry

19th Century French Mahogany Writing Desk with Folding Front Part
Located in Sofia, BG
French mahogany writing desk with folding front part and hidden drawers in the upper part. There are also three big drawers in the lower p...
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Late 19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Mahogany

DREXEL HERITAGE Et Cetera Mediterranean Style Secretary Desk
Located in Charlotte, NC
A Mediterranean style secretary desk by Drexel Heritage, from their Et Cetera Collection.Solid oak with brass accents and hardware. Upper has dual door blind...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Rococo Desks

Materials

Oak

JASPER "Generations" Inlaid Mahogany Chippendale Style Secretary Desk
Located in Charlotte, NC
A Chippendale style secretary desk by Jasper Cabinet Company, their "Generations" model. Inlaid mahogany, brass hardware, pediment top with inla...
Category

Late 20th Century American Rococo Desks

Materials

Brass

Venetian Trumeau Green Lacquered Hand Decorated Secretary with Writing Desk 1976
Located in Prato, IT
Venezia, Italy, handcrafted production from 1976 In Venetian style Louis XV Painted and decorated in gold Upper part with two doors with two beveled mirrors depicting a Lady and a...
Category

20th Century Italian Rococo Desks

Materials

Mirror, Wood

Mid-Century Modern Vintage Walnut Ash Desk Bureau Secretary, 1950s, Italy
Located in Vienna, AT
Mid-Century Modern vintage secretary desk bureau Ico Parisi style from walnut and ash veneers designed and manufactured 1950s Italy. The beauti...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Rococo Desks

Materials

Ash, Walnut

Custom 1950s Wall Mounted Modernist Writing Desk
Located in San Diego, CA
Unique handmade custom wall-mounted writing desk made in the 1950s. Solid birch construction with patinated brass accents and a smooth black laminate desk surface that folds up when ...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Rococo Desks

18th Century English Kashmir Walnut Secretary
Located in Savannah, GA
This is a slant front secretary or bureau made in England circa 1780. It is made of Kashmir walnut (the finest cut of burr walnut) and walnut. The top, ...
Category

1780s English Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Walnut

19th Century French Louis XV Style Boulle Ladies Bombe Bureau
Located in Dublin, IE
A magnificent 19th century French ormolu mounted and brass marquetry inlaid bombe bureau in the Louis XV style with three quarter brass gallery top, the fall front to reveal a superb...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Brass, Ormolu

Previously Available Items
Rococo-Style Inlaid Slant Front Desk
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Rococo-style slant front desk with Dutch marquetry floral panels, two interior drawers and sliding hidden compartment, and on legs with figural bronze mounts. Condition consistent wi...
Category

19th Century European Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Wood

Rococo-Style Inlaid Slant Front Desk
Rococo-Style Inlaid Slant Front Desk
H 37.5 in W 28.5 in D 17 in
French Rococo Style Ladies Desk
Located in Chelmsford, GB
Fine quality late 19th century French Rococo red walnut Writing table / Desk The desk has quality carved cabriole legs with ornate brass ormolu handles. All drawers slide nice and...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Walnut

French Rococo Style Ladies Desk
French Rococo Style Ladies Desk
H 30.32 in W 40.95 in D 22.84 in
Antique Dutch Early 19th Century Walnut Marquetry Cylinder Desk / Bureau 1820
Located in Portland, OR
A Fine & exceptional antique early 19th century Dutch Rococco marquetry inlaid cylinder bureau/desk, Circa 1820. The desk is sumptuously and profusely inlaid with fruitwood marquetr...
Category

1820s Dutch Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Fruitwood, Walnut

19th Century Northern Italian Rococo Writing Desk Cabinet
Located in Forney, TX
A rare and magnificent Italian Rococo pewter inlaid fruitwood three piece writing desk with beautiful rich patina. Born in Northern Italy in the first half of the 19th century, exquisite hand-crafted construction, featuring fine quality craftsmanship, materials and detailing throughout. The exceptionally executed, impressive large scale antique writing desk surmounted by serpentine upper portion fitted with nine drawers and a locking cabinet with original key included; the mid-portion with shaped fall-front writing surface panel concealing five short shelve pigeonhole cubbies, flanked on each side by deep drawers, and resting atop four large chest drawers; the façade with highly attractive richly figured burled veneer outlined with fine pewter inlay and contrasting exotic woods inlays; standing on carved walnut cabriole legs joined by curved X-shaped cross stretcher. Marks to verso: A.U. 17, A.U. 20 Provenance: Skinner, Boston, Massachusetts; European Furniture and Decorative Arts catalog, October 5, 2013, lot 784. Property from the Estates of Ramon Osuna (1937-2019) and Robert Lennon (1933-2021), Washington, D.C. Longtime Washington-area art dealers, Mr. Osuna was born in Havana and came to the Washington area soon after Fidel Castro came to power in 1959. He initially made his name as a dealer in contemporary art but gradually expanded into the Old Masters. With his longtime friend and partner Lennon, he owned galleries in Washington for many years and, at his death, also had Osuna Art...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Pewter

19th Century Venetian Rococo Style Painted Desk
Located in Middleburg, VA
19th Century Venetian Rococo style desk Measures: 73" H, 26" W, 16" D.  
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Wood, Paint

Late 19th Century Highly Carved Gilt Venetian Drop Front Desk
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Fabulous desk with fantastic carvings, including a full body cherub dragons roaring lion drawer pulls and what possibly could be the family crest on the dr...
Category

1890s Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Walnut

North Italian Serpentine Front Banded Walnut Rococo Style Secretary Desk
Located in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
This fine North Italian Austrian inspired fall front banded walnut secretary desk features a fall front that opens up to an interior with stepped rows of short drawers, the bottom dr...
Category

Early 19th Century Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Bronze

19th Century Italian Rococo Burl Walnut Slant Front Desk
Located in WEST PALM BEACH, FL
This exquisite Italian Rococo burl walnut desk has a slant front opening to reveal a central compartment with door flanked by small drawers above a serpent...
Category

19th Century Italian Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Walnut, Burl

Antique Swedish Rococo Desk with Brass Hardware in Original Paint, 19th Century
Located in Wichita, KS
Beautiful freestanding Swedish Rococo writing desk with original brass hardware, hand-scraped to the original sea-foam blue paint. Shaped a...
Category

19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks

Materials

Brass

A Handsome Dutch Rococo Style Walnut Bombe-Form 3-Drawer Fall-Front Desk
Located in San Francisco, CA
A handsome Dutch rococo style walnut bombe-form 3-drawer fall-front desk; the curved fall front centering an inlaid floral basket and corner accents; opening to an inset tooled leath...
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19th Century Dutch Antique Rococo Desks

Rococo desks for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Rococo desks for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage desks created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include case pieces and storage cabinets and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, animal skin and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Rococo desks made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and France pieces for sale on 1stDibs. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for desks differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $3,520 and tops out at $8,590 while the average work can sell for $6,601.

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