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Desks and Writing Tables For Sale
Style: Baroque
Style: Louis XV
A very fine and rare 18th desk by Important Parisian ebeniste Pierre Migeon
Located in Dallas, TX
A very fine and rare 18th century Secretaire desk by Pierre Migeon Sr. . A family of Important Parisian ebenistes in the early to mid 18th century . Three generations of very fine c...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Porcelain, Mahogany, Walnut
Antique Louis XV Style Provincial Walnut End / Writing Table
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Antique Louis XV provincial walnut occasional / writing table, 19th century. With a rectangular overhanging top, serpentine shaped frieze apron with a drawer , resting on finely carved cabriole legs. Nice old color. Formerly sold by John Nelson Antiques...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
20th Century French Kingwood and Ormolu Bureau Plat
Located in Gloucestershire, GB
A rare example of a French Louis XV style bureau plat with fitted cabinet back. A handsome piece that has fine quality, bold brass mounts and is of exceptional quality.
France, Circa...
Category
1920s French Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Rounded Luxury Classical Office Desk, Gold Leaf by Modenese Gastone Interiors
Located in PADOVA, Italy
Admire this figured presidential office desk finely finished in ebanon and gold leaf decorated carvings. Its curved baroque legs really make a...
Category
2010s Italian Baroque Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Silver Leaf, Gold Leaf
Louis XV Petite Mahogany and Kingwood Marquetry Kidney Writing Table, Paris 1870
Located in Germantown, MD
A Recently refinished French transitional kidney-shaped desk. 19th century French transitional design between Louis XV and Louis XVI is timeless, elegant, and understated it works we...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
18th Century Italian Desk
Located in Atlanta, GA
This 18th-century Italian desk exemplifies the ornate craftsmanship and elegance of period furniture. Crafted from rich, dark wood, likely walnut, it features intricately carved legs...
Category
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Louis XV Style Desk a Rognon
Located in Montreal, QC
A very fine kingwood kidney- shaped desk (bureau a rognon) with original tooled leather surface, crisply mounted in gilt bronze and on cabriole legs .
signed in the gilt bronze surround T.W. Muller.
T W Muller was a Viennese cabinet...
Category
19th Century Austrian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
19th Century Louis XV Style Writing Desk or Center Table
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
Extremely elegant Louis XV Style writing desk or center table, with a gracefully adorned floral marquetry and intricate borders on the tray, revealing a single drawer and elegantly c...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Fruitwood
Louis XV Leather Top Cocobola Wood Writing Desk
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Rare and remarkable Louis XV style ladies writing desk handcrafted in exotic cocobola wood with a leather top on a one drawer case over elegant cabriole legs with ormolu front feet.
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Cocobolo
Antique Continental Louis XV Style Desk
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Antique continental Louis XV style walnut and beech wood desk, late 19th century. Nice color. Hand dove tailed drawer construction. Height of center of knee hole to floor 24". Width ...
Category
Late 19th Century European Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Louis XV Style Kingwood and Marquetry Bureau Plat
Located in Astoria, NY
Louis XV Style Gilt Brass Mounted Kingwood and Marquetry Bureau Plat, 20th century, the scalloped rectangular top inlaid with floral marquetry, above three frieze drawers, on cabriol...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Ormolu
French Louis XV Style Leather Top Writing Desk
Located in Astoria, NY
French Louis XV style lacquered wood writing desk with one long drawer flanked by two short drawers, inset leather top with gilt border, upon four cabriole legs with gilt metal mount...
Category
Mid-20th Century Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather, Wood, Lacquer
19th Century French Louis XV Inlaid Palisander Ladies Desk with Brass Ornaments
Located in Sofia, BG
French elegant small desk in palisander veneer, decorated with floral marquetry, revealing drawers, 66X92X43, Louis XV style.
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Palisander
Antique French Country Louis XV Walnut Writing Desk Table, Circa 1920
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This is a fantastic antique French desk. The desk is in good condition and measures 19 inches deep x 31 wide x 30 inches tall. The desk dates to teh 1920s.
Category
1920s French Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
19th Century, Bureau Plat, by Francoise Linke.
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A fine quality French kingwood and marquetry, ormolu-mounted Bureau plat, signed Linke.
Having three frieze drawers to one side, dummy drawers to the reverse, inset Moroccan leather...
Category
1890s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Kingwood
18th Century French Marquetry Louis XV Dressing Table or So-Called Coiffeuse
Located in Berlin, DE
18th century French Louis XV marquetry dressing table or so-called Coiffeuse
18th century Louis XV vanity dressing table or coiffeuse...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Italian Baroque Walnut Fall Front Desk
Located in Stamford, CT
Italian fall front desk with burl wood inlay. With six drawers and two hidden storage areas. The top of this desk is 18th century, while the base, beau...
Category
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Vintage Drexel Louis XV Style Chinoiserie Decorated Leather Top Desk
By Drexel
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions - H: 30 in W: 60 in D: 27 in
An exquisite French Louis XV-style leather-top desk by Drexel, featuring stunning chinoiserie hand-painted decorations that add an air of so...
Category
Late 20th Century American Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
A Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Bureau Plat by François Linke
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Louis XV Style gilt-bronze mounted bureau plat by François Linke.
The rectangular top inset with a green leather writing surface with gilt-tooled border, within a gilt-bronze su...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Italian Baroque Carved Walnut Writing Desk with Lyre Base
Located in Hopewell, NJ
An Italian Baroque style walnut writing desk table with drawers and lyre shaped base legs and beautiful hand crafted wrought-iron stretchers. Created in Italy during the early years of the 19th century, this walnut writing desk or table features a curved hand carved rectangular top showcasing a raised shelf with two petite drawers...
Category
Early 1800s Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wrought Iron
French Louis XV Small Writing Desk With Leather Top Pullout
Located in West Hartford, CT
This French Louis XV petite desk embodies the elegance of 18th-century French craftsmanship. Featuring a stunning marquetry top with finely chased...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Ancient Italian Writing Desk with Upper Cabinet, Milan, Circa 1730
Located in Milano, IT
Writing desk with upper cabinet
Milan, first half of the 18th century
Carved walnut partially veneered in olive wood and walnut burl; traces of eboniz...
Category
1730s Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Olive, Walnut
Early Paint Antique French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Desk & Stool
Located in West Sussex, Pulborough
We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning early painted circa 1880-1900 French Louis XV style Bureau plat writing table with later stool
This is a wonderful find, the burea...
Category
1880s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Antique Louis XV Provincial Style Leather Top Writing Table
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Antique Louis XV provincial style leather top writing / games table, late 19th century. With an old tooled leather top, carved aprons, with carved c scrolled...
Category
Late 19th Century European Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather, Oak
19th Century French Louis XV Style Marquetry Lady's Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine and well-proportioned 19th century French lady's desk, the case veneered with marquetry decoration and embellished with finely cast and finished gilt bronze mounts. The d...
Category
Late 19th Century European Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Kingwood
French Bureau Plat of Ebony and Brass Inlay with Ormolu Mounts, 19th Century
Located in London, GB
A Fine Bureau Plat in the Manner of André-Charles Boulle
Constructed in ebony with arabesque foliate cut brass inlays, with premiere-partie panels set with tortoiseshell grounds and brass inlay work, and having extensive fine quality ormolu mounts; rising from animal paw sabots, mounted with female masks at the shoulders; the apron housing three drawers, with faux drawers to the obverse, the central drawers set with a Bacchic mask issuing foliates, the platform of serpentine form, having a brass guard edge, and inset with a gilt tooled morocco leather. Stamped to the carcass ‘BF’ and ‘Gros’.
French, Circa 1870
Denise Ledoux-Lebard’s ‘Le Mobilier Français du XIXe Siecle’. Published by les Editions de l’Amateur, 2000, lists a Benjamin Gros, whose enterprise amalgamated with the noted ebeniste Winckelsen in 1871; Gros had received an honourable mention for his ‘Boulle’ furniture in the Exposition Universelle in 1855.
Literature;
Le Mobilier Francais (qv)
Seymour de Ricci, Batsford 1929 ‘Louis XIV and Regence Furniture...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Ormolu
20th Century Spanish Baroque Style Cabinet on Stand, Bargueno or Varqueno
Located in Miami, FL
This Bargueno is embellished with a carving of Don Quixote de la Mancha bordered with branches of leaves. The desk is supported by a pedestal joined by a bridge of turned columns. Th...
Category
Early 20th Century Spanish Baroque Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Iron
Antiqued Gold Finish Baroque Style Dining Table Base
Located in Sheffield, MA
Glam up your dining experience with this antiqued gold "gilt" toned Baroque Hollywood Regency styled metal and glass dining table. Be it ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary European Baroque Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Iron
18th century Louis XV ITALIAN Writing Table with Drawers
Located in Firenze, FI
Elegant desk perfect for the center of the room, with drawers in solid walnut and walnut feather veneer on the sides, interiors in poplar. The drawers are all equipped with locks. Tu...
Category
Mid-18th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Rare Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marquetry Pedestal Desk by François Linke, circa 1900
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A rare gilt bronze mounted marquetry pedestal desk by François Linke.
French, circa 1900.
Linke Index Number 711.
Linke title ‘Bureau LXV à 8 pieds’.
Stamped to the insi...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Exceptional Louis XV 19th Century Ormolu Mounted Secretaire By Befort Jeune
By Befort Jeune
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions: Height: 42 3/4 in Width: 29 3/4 in Depth: 16 1/2 in
This exceptional Befort Jeune Louis XV style 19th century marble top mahogany sceretaire desk with bronze mounts is ...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Bronze, Ormolu
Fine Quality Francois Linke Style Bronze Mounted Petite Ladies Desk, 1870s
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
For customers that require professional insured delivery we are proud to have teamed up with a nationwide professional delivery company that will assist with coordinating your delive...
Category
1870s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Portuguese Style Ebonized Spinet Secretary Desk by Tommy Bahama
By Tommy Bahama
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Handsome Portuguese style secretary writing table or desk by Tommy Bahama. The spinet or piano style case has a flip top opening to reveal a pull-out writing table with a leather sur...
Category
20th Century Baroque Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Antique Italian Center / Desk Table, Walnut & Marble, Naples, 19th Century
Located in Odense, DK
This exclusive antique center / desk table, dating back to the 1820s from Naples, is a remarkable example of refined craftsmanship and historical significance. The rich walnut base e...
Category
Early 19th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble
Early 20th Spanish Desk with Lyre Legs and Carved Edges on Top
Located in Miami, FL
Early 20th Spanish desk with lyre legs and carved edges on top
An 20th century Spanish Baroque style desk, or writing table made of solid walnut with lyre shaped legs joined by wrou...
Category
20th Century Spanish Baroque Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wrought Iron
A French 19th/20th Century Louis XV Style Tulipwood Marquetry Writing Table/Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Fine French 19th/20th Century Louis XV Style Tulipwood Marquetry and Gilt-Bronze Mounted Ladies Writing Table or Desk. The single drawer center table surmounted on each corner with...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
18th Century Louis XV Baroque Walnut Fall Front Desk/Secretaire
Located in Darmstadt, DE
The desk is from the time around 1730 and covered with a beautiful marquetry of different walnut / walnut root wood on a pine body.
All three locks are original from that time as wel...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut, Pine
Louis Style Inlaid Wood Bronze Brass Serpentine Desk
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Transport yourself back to the sleek and sophisticated early 20th Century with this exquisite inlaid Louis desk with bronze and brass hardware. The ultra rare desk exudes an air of l...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Bronze
French Mid-Century Louis XV Style Writing Desk
Located in Brooklyn, NY
French, Louis XV style, black lacquered chestnut writing desk, circa 1940's features a brass trimmed, embossed leather top with one center drawer and cabriole legs with carved bronze...
Category
Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Bronze
19th Century Louis XV French Desk with Cabriolet Legs, 1890s
Located in Miami, FL
19th century Louis XV style French walnut writing desk with three drawers and cabriolet legs. Created in France during the 19th century, th...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Provincial French Tea Table with Drawer, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This elegant tea table was crafted of in late-19th-century France in the Louis XV-style, defined by its scalloped apron and thin cabriole legs. The s-form legs curve outwards from th...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Fruitwood, Walnut
Fine Italian 19th Century Floral Marquetry Gilt Bronze-Mounted Center Table Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine Italian 19th century mahogany, satinwood and tulipwood floral marquetry and gilt-bronze mounted center table or writing desk. The serpentine inlaid shaped top centered with a marquetry floral arrangement medallion, surrounded by sections of diamond-shaped acanthus parquetry designs flanked by further medallions of flower bouquets, all within a gilt-bronze rim, above a similarly decorated frieze fronted by four drawers, on scroll legs raised on lion paw feet on rolling casters, joined by an 'X'-shaped marquetry stretcher...
Category
19th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
French 19th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu-Mounted Bureau Plat Desk
By Paul Sormani
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine and large French 19th century Louis XV style ormolu-mounted mahogany and kingwood three-drawer bureau plat attributed to Paul Sormani (French-Italian 1817-1877). The shaped rectangular top enclosing a gilt tooled brown leather writing surface within a molded border above a long central drawer enclosing a fine modeled mask of Hercules wearing the Nemean lion pelt centered by flat cast encadrements and rosewood veneered a quatre faces flanked by two short drawers with reticulated escutcheons of scantly clad frolicking putti and doves over gadrooned "C" scrolls, trellis patterned panels on a stylized shell within similarly framed encadrements raised on elegant cabriole legs surmounted by bearded satyr masks ending in acanthus case hairy paw feet beneath sides centering bacchic masks. Lock mechanism stamped W S M, 6068, a key (lacking skeleton key), and 148. Veuve Paul Sormani Et Fils was the widow of the highly esteemed furniture maker Paul Sormani (French-Italian 1817-1877). After his death around 1877 she and her son took over the management of the company continuing the tradition of producing fine French furniture of the highest calibre. An escutcheon and several mounts were examined on the reverse, and each was found to have the bronze master model initials "SJ:. Blue chalk inscription on underside Glle 117, Paris, circa 1880.
Paul Sormani (1817-1877): Born in Venice, Paul Sormani set up in Paris in the middle of the 19th century. He specialized in creating furniture and works of art and was known for his high quality reproductions of Louis XV and XVI furniture...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu, Bronze
19th Century Side Table with Frieze Drawer and Baluster Turned Legs
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
An absolutely charming 19th century Baroque style French side table, crafted from walnut and featuring exquisitely baluster turned and tapering legs, and a beautifully curved X-form ...
Category
19th Century French Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Spanish Baroque 18th Century Lyre Leg Wooden Trestle Table with Iron Stretcher
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Spanish baroque table with decorative forged-iron stretcher from the 18th century. This antique table from Spain features a rectangular-shaped top, which is raised upon a pair of fluidly-carved, lyre-shaped trestle styled legs at either end. The pair of trestles...
Category
Late 18th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Iron
A Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Table by François Linke
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Table by François Linke.
Signed to the bronze rim ‘Linke’.
Linke Index Number. 593.
This rare table can serve as a desk, dressing table or o...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
French 19th Century Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Marquetry Center Table
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Very Fine French 19th century Louis XV Style gilt-bronze mounted fruitwood floral marquetry center table or desk with drawer, by Ébéniste Louis Gradé, Gr...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
Lovely Louis XV Style Kidney Shaped Writing Table
Located in Crawley, GB
We delight to offer for sake this lovely antique walnut and gilt metal mounted kidney shaped writing table in Louis XV style, late 19th century; the top with inset gilt tooled leathe...
Category
Late 19th Century British Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
18th Century Louis XV Red Chinoiserie Bureau de Dame Desk By Pierre Migeon
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
Dimensions- H: 38 1/4in W: 32 1/2in D: 18in
This extremely rare and Important 18th Century Louis XV Red Chinoiserie Bureau de Dame Desk By Pierre Migeon is absolutely breathe taking! If you look at the photos provided you will see the attention to detail within the intricately done hand painted Chinoiserie gold and scarlet lacquered decorations as well as the extremely fine and crisp bronze ormolu mounts. The piece is also signed underneath of the desk. Pierre Migeon (1696-1758) Was one of the most prominent furniture makers of the 18th century and was known for for his impeccable quality as well as his ability to work with a variety of other extremely well known cabinet makers of the 18th C. Throughout his career a few very important people took a liking to his works and commissioned pieces from him such as Madame de pompadour and the Master of the Revels! The piece is equipped with a drop front writing area and 6 drawers and a secret compartment on the inside of the desk as well as two lockable drawers on the outside front of the desk. This piece was at one point a part of the inventory of the Hartman Galleries...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
19th Century French Bonheur Du Jour Writing Desk
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A pretty French Louis XV style writing desk or ‘bonheur du jour’, the serpentine case veneered in book-matched Kingwood and raised on elegant cabriole legs and accented with gilt tri...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Kingwood
Louis XV Style Bureau Plate, 19th Century
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality 19th century Louis XV style bureau plat, having an inset leather top, gilded ormolu mounts, three frieze drawers to one side, d...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
19th Century Spanish Walnut Desk with Two Drawers & Strong Legs, 1890s
Located in Miami, FL
19th Spanish walnut desk or console table with two drawers and strong turning legs and stretcher.
Category
Late 19th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Spanish 1880s Walnut Side Table or Lady Desk, Carved Legs and Iron Stretcher
Located in Miami, FL
A Spanish walnut side table with single drawer, scalloped apron, carved legs and iron side stretcher from the late 19th century.
The front it´s the same that the back, you can see ...
Category
Late 19th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Iron
French Louis XV Style Marquetry & Gilt Bronze-Mounted Secretary Desk with Clock
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine French 19th-20th century Louis XV style tulipwood and mahogany marquetry gilt bronze-mounted petit-bureau de dame (secretary). The bombe´ structure surmounted by a pair o...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Spanish Baroque Table with Dark Walnut Solomonic Legs with Carved Structure and
Located in Miami, FL
Baroque Spanish colonial fratino table dark walnut solomonic legs with iron stretcher, exquisite walnut wood Fratino trestle table with antique 19th cen...
Category
Late 19th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Louis XV Bureau Plat In Rosewood Marquetry And Gilt Bronze
Located in BARSAC, FR
Magnificent Louis XV flat desk made of rosewood marquetry treated in frieze on an oak frame.
Beautiful ornamentation of gilded and chiseled bronze.
Top covered with red leather dec...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Rosewood
Lacquered and Veneered Bureau de Dame, 18th to 19th C.
Located in Atlanta, GA
Petite in stature with three slides over two drawers. Probably originally had a superstructure because there are visible patches where something would have been attached. It might al...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Hardwood
Fine French 19th Century Louis XV Style Tulipwood and Ormolu-Mounted Ladies Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A very fine French 19th century tulipwood, mahogany and ormolu-mounted Bureau de Dame Lady's secretary desk, attributed to Maison Millet. The supe...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
Antique and Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
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.