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Desks and Writing Tables For Sale
Style: Louis XV
Style: Arts and Crafts
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

Vintage French Provincial Petit-Bureau de Dame
Located in Forney, TX
A beautiful petit-bureau de dame (also known as bonheur de jour or lady's secretary desk). Born in Provincial France in early/mid 20th century, finished in luxurious Louis XV taste, ...
Category

Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Paint

Louis XV Style Bureau Plat
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Attractive Louis XV style bureau plat, gilt embossed tanned leather top writing surface centered on a beautiful satinwood veneered panel and...
Category

Late 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

18th Century Louis XV Provincial Writing / Occasional Table
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Louis XV provincial walnut writing / occasional table, 18th century. With an overhanging 3 board top with molded borders, frieze with drawer and scalloped apron, resting on cabriole ...
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18th Century European Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Louis XV Style French Kingwood Parquetry and Gilt Bronze Bureau Plat 'Desk'
By Jean-Pierre Latz
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A late 19th century French Bureau Plat in kingwood and amaranth parquetry with three drawers to one side with gilt bronze decoration all round; notable are the drawer handles modelled with Chinese heads; the two ends decorated with Apollo heads...
Category

Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Kingwood

18th Century Louis XV French Provençal Side Table
Located in Winter Park, FL
A late 18th century French Louis XV side table from Normandy, made of solid cherry. Rare, elegant serpentine form with shaped top, thick scalloped apron and cabriole legs. Dovetailed...
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Late 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Iron

French Leather Top Writing Table
Located in New York, NY
A striking 19th-century walnut French writing table with one drawer and a black leather top. The table has developed a rich, warm patina and its size make it perfect as a small desk...
Category

Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Walnut

Mid-19th Century French Louis XV Heavily Carved Oak Desk Secretary
Located in Dallas, TX
Hand carved in northern France circa 1860, the "secretaire a abattants" is both stylish and functional. The writing desk is crafted from solid oak wood and stands on cabriole legs en...
Category

Mid-19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Oak

French 19th C.Louis XV Style Ormolu Mounted Bureau-Plat Desk Attr. Paul Sormani
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A Very Fine and Large French 19th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu Mounted Tulipwood Three-Drawer Bureau Plat - After a model by Joseph Baumhauer (died 1772) - Attributed to Paul Sormani (French-Italian 1817-1877). The serpentine shaped rectangular top enclosing a gilt tooled burgundy leather writing surface (worn) within a molded border above a long central drawer flanked by two drawers, with scrolled ormolu drawer-pulls, ormolu floral encadrements and acanthus corners co-raised on elegant cabriolet legs. (Unsigned - Unmarked). Circa: Paris, 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

Bronze, Ormolu

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...
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Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Fruitwood, Walnut

18th Century, Louis XV Provencal Center Table
Located in Winter Park, FL
An 18th century French Louis XV table from Provence. Made of solid walnut with deep hand-carved apron and thick cabriole legs. Two dovetailed dr...
Category

18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Iron

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

French Bureau Plat Marquetry Leather Top Desk with Orig. Ormolu Mounts, C. 1770
Located in Hollywood, SC
French bureau plat marquetry leather top three drawer desk with hearing bone inlays, three opposite side faux drawers, original floral ormolu mounts, brass escutcheons, brass knobs, ...
Category

1770s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass, Ormolu

Louis XV Style Ebonized Writing Desk
Located in Locust Valley, NY
An ebonized writing desk in Louis XV style with cabriole legs and ormolu mounts to the feet, two drawers, a curved apron and a glass top.
Category

20th Century Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

19th C French Louis XV Style Carved Mahogany Two Drawer Table
Located in Southampton, NY
19th C French Louis XV Style Carved Walnut Two Drawer Table A beautifully carved serpentine shaped table with two drawers and classic Louis XV detailing. Original hardware. Previous ...
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19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany

18th Century French Louis XV Period Walnut Chateau Bonheur Du Jour or Secretary
Located in Birmingham, AL
A rare 18th century French Louis XV period chateau bonheur du jour or secrétaire handcrafted of walnut by very talented artisans in Lyon for a wealthy chateau owner near Villeurbanne, circa 1750s. This impressive antique French secretary features a chapeau de gendarme crown above a pair of carved serpentine doors with brass mesh grilles and beautiful green and gold damask fabric backings that open to reveal a painted interior with two display shelves. Three carved drawers are below. The lower section features a flat serpentine shaped writing surface that lifts opens to reveal plenty of storage above a carved, scalloped apron with C-scrolls and a center carved shell motif. Raised on four elegant cabriole legs ending in scrolled French toes. This grand Lyonnaise French library desk...
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1750s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Iron

19th Century French Louis XV Leather Top Walnut Partner Desk with Bronze Mounts
Located in Dallas, TX
Create an elegant office space using this antique, walnut desk. Crafted in France, circa 1890 and rectangular in shape, the bureau plat stands on cabriole legs dressed with figural a...
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Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Baker Furniture French Provincial Louis XV Walnut Writing Desk, Newly Refinished
Located in South Bend, IN
An exceptional French Provincial Louis XV style writing desk By Baker Furniture USA, Circa 1960s Gorgeous book-matched figured walnut, with original brass hardware and mount...
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Mid-20th Century American Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

19th Century Régence Napoleon III Ebonized Desk/Bureau Plat Stamped Gros/Paris
By Benjamin Gros
Located in Berlin, DE
Excellent and rare French 19th century Napoleon III ebonized black lacquer Bureau plat or writing desk made in the Régence/Louis XV style made by Benjamin Gros/Paris, ca. 1855. Rais...
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Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Pagodic Desk
Located in DE MEERN, UT
The style of this standing desk is a mix between Japanese pagodas and modern skyscrapers. It is an artisanal piece consisting of: A curved top, with inlaid motifs and high-quality ...
Category

2010s Dutch Arts and Crafts Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut, Bamboo, Padouk, Purpleheart, Teak

Early Gustav Stickley Mission Oak Arts & Crafts Library Table or Writing Desk
Located in South Bend, IN
A rare and exceptional antique Mission oak Arts & Crafts writing desk, library table, or center table By Gustav Stickley (original label present) USA, Circa 1900 Measures: 3...
Category

Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Louis XV Tuscany Walnut Veneered Writing Table
Located in Firenze, FI
Elegant writing table in walnut veenered poplar. Top centered by a star motif, a comfortable drawer in the band, curved legs typical of mid-18th century Tuscan manufacture.
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Late 18th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Poplar, Walnut

19th Century French Oak Desk
Located in London, GB
19th century French oak desk. This lovely country house bureau plat is in an earlier C18th style, has three drawers (replaced hardware), and stylised ...
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Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Antique French Writing Table Transition Style Louis XV – Louis XVI
Located in SAINTE-COLOMBE, FR
French Antique Writing Table / Bonheur du Jour Transition Style Louis XV – Louis XVI This beautifully made French lady's writing table has many outstanding features. The pierce...
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Marble, Brass, Bronze

Elegant French Style Writing Desk
Located in Riverdale, NY
Elegant French style writing desk with Louis XV lines in blond wood with silver leaf-painted table edge and feet. 3 drawers. Fitted g...
Category

1950s American Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

19th Century French Kingwood Writing Desk Bureau Plat
Located in Essex, MA
19th century French kingwood Bureau plat writing desk. Beautiful Louis XV Form. Lacquered Bronze Mounts are original. Grand proportion. Embossed Plum leather.
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Signed Gustav Stickley Antique Mission Oak Arts & Crafts Desk, Circa 1900
Located in South Bend, IN
A rare and exceptional antique Mission oak Arts & Crafts writing desk By Gustav Stickley (original label present) USA, Circa 1900 Solid quarter sawn oak, with original hamme...
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Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Copper

French Louis XV Walnut 1-Drawer Table, circa 1765
Located in Atlanta, GA
A delicately carved walnut writing table with a single drawer on the side of the apron and a raised gallery around three sides for the original purpose of writing. Raised on four tap...
Category

Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Elegant French Louis XV Period Secretary Writing Desk with Hidden Compartment
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV period Rococo secretary with hidden compartment, circa 1760. This antique French writing desk features a slant-leaf front...
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Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

20th Century French Bureau Plat/ Writing Desk
Located in Berlin, DE
20th century French bureau plat/ writing desk In Bois Satiné veneer, mirror veneer covering all sides with rocaille applications. Edged with extremely finely chiselled, extremely...
Category

20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

1940s Petite Mahogany Ornate Painted Secretary Bureau with Flip Leather Top
Located in Germantown, MD
Beautifully painted and decorated mahogany Secretary Bureau writing table with Flip green Leather Top. Features two upper drawers, a lower large drawer with functional lock and key. Lower drawer pulls out to support the open flip top with green leather. Light weight and great space saver. Measures 27.25 inches wide, 16 inches deep and 23.5 inches deep with flip top open. Stand 43 inches overall tall...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany, Paint

19th Century English Bureau Plat in the Manner of Edward Holmes Baldock
Located in Dublin, IE
A fine 19th century Louis XV style Walnut, Ebony and floral marquetry Bureau Plat in the manner of Edward Holmes Baldock, the serpentine shaped top inset with a panel of tooled leather within a border of scroll work and floral trails, the corners with shell and cabochon and foliate clasp mounts, above two frieze drawers decorated with floral marquetry and similar opposing dummy drawers, on cabriole legs applied with scrolling foliate and rocaille mounts trailing to sabots. Footnotes: Edward Holmes Baldock (1777-1845) is documented in London Trade Directories of the period in various capacities but first appears listed at 7 Hanway Street, London in 1805 described as a '..dealer in china and glass'. But by 1826 the various facets of the business included '..buying and selling, exchanging and valuing china, cabinets, screens, bronzes etc'. Baldock's business seems to have largely involved trading in foreign items and between 1832-7 he was the purveyor of earthenware and glass to William IV and later purveyor of china to Queen Victoria from 1838 until his death. He is known to have repaired, re-modelled and adapted furniture...
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19th Century English Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

20th Century Inlaid Wood Faux Leather Top French Louis XV Style Writing Desk
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
French writing desk from the mid-20th century. Furniture in Louis XV style pleasantly inlaid and veneered in walnut and rosewood with rich bronze and brass decoration. Desk finished ...
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Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass, Bronze

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

Elegant French Side Table or Desk with Hooved Feet
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Elegant Louis XV side table or smaller scale desk bought in Avignon, France. Solid oak with one drawer and early peg joinery, this classy French side ...
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Early 1800s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Elegant antique Louis XV Style Veneered lady Bureau Plat / Desk
Located in Berlin, DE
Exclusive Louis XV style ladies bureau plat/desk Solid beech wood with exotic root veneer. Extremely fine, floral bronze fittings. Cambered and ...
Category

20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Early Gustav Stickley Ebonized Mission Oak Arts & Crafts Writing Desk
Located in South Bend, IN
A rare and exceptional antique Mission oak Arts & Crafts writing desk By Gustav Stickley (original label present) USA, Circa 1900 Solid quarter sawn oak in original ebonized...
Category

Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Copper

Huge Gilded Ebonized Period French Louis XV Marble Top Butlers Desk Commode
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 delivery needs! They offer a reasonable flat-rate fee for delivery and set up to the ground floor of your home. They deliver to the vast majority of the lower 48 states. They offer a flat rate for most of our items with exclusions for the largest or most complex items such as breakfronts or crystal chandeliers or other items of greater complexity. For those items please ask for a shipping quote prior to purchase as these rates are different from our stated pricing. For those items please ask for a shipping quote prior to purchase. Most deliveries to the East Coast will be 295.00, to the mid-west and Southern mid-west 395.00. To the areas west of Kansas 495.00 and the farthest points to the West coast will be 595.00. Again, some areas we can't cover, however we can deliver to most of the lower 48 states so please inquire to be sure! Delivery times range from as fast as 1-4 weeks for the east coast to 5-9 weeks to the farthest areas of the west coast, sometimes longer and sometimes even shorter. If it is a time sensitive purchase, we may be able to accommodate you for a higher price. It is our goal to please each and every one of our customers with the highest standard of service possible. You must realize and accept that we are shipping antique, vintage and quality used furnishings to your home. We cannot control traffic, weather, and acts of God. There will be times when additional patience will be necessary. Please see video below. This is a very rare, monumental butlers desk or large scale commode in solid oak with incredible hand polished and hand-hewn quarried marble. The piece has been painstakingly gilded and ebonized in a French-polished shellac finish and has a red interior. The piece features two side doors which at one time had adjustable shelves. Take a look at the incredible chunky antique locks...
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1770s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Antique 19th Century Louis XV Bureau Writing Table in Wood and Bronze
Located in BILBAO, ES
Castle worthy desk, solid wood. Rosewood veneer edged by finely engraved brass fittings. On angled, with four looking forward, imposing curly legs, on all sides scalloped. Profiled a...
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1880s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Rhamtail
Located in DE MEERN, UT
While designing Rhamtail desk, I was looking for experience. A feeling, a glorification, a comfort to sit in front of it. Thereby I imagined the uses, someone who continues clients conversations at his office. Thereby welcoming them inside and letting them be surprised by the interior object. Once seated, they can admire the tray up close. Once that conversation progresses they will see new details of the desk. This will create a reference of atmosphere during the conversation which the client takes home. The design of the top has a masculine character. Partly because of the profiled edge and thickness. Wherein the cones in the profile offers some grace. Which creates togetherness with the feminine cabinets underneath. With the concave cabinets...
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2010s Dutch Arts and Crafts Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Plexiglass, Walnut

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

Inlaid Parquetry Desk or Writing Table
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
Elegant French Louis XV style parquetry writing desk with fitted interior and gilt mounts. Leather writing surface; standi...
Category

Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

French Louis XV Style Desk with Leather Writing Pad, Black with Brass Accents
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV style desk, with leather writing pad top, from the 19th century. This antique table from France has been designed in the Louis XV...
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Wood

Antique French Walnut Tambour Top Desk
Located in Denton, TX
Rare 19th century French walnut roll top desk in the style of Louis XV. The tambour door locks with a key. Also finished on the back so it can be ...
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak, Walnut

French Bureau Plat 20th C. with Black Gilt Trim Writing Surface
Located in Houston, TX
This exquisite desk is very well made with beech wood and oak with Kingwood marquetry decorative motifs. Gilt bronze mounts decorate The edge and gilt masks embellish each corner....
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Beech

19th Century French Louis XV Desk, Dining Table
Located in Dallas, TX
19th century French Louis XV desk ~ Dining table is an exceptionally versatile piece, perfect for the stylish executive or doubles as a dining tab...
Category

1890s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Console Table, XVIII Century, France
Located in Girona, Spain
Console table, Made with cherry wood. Lacquered in black. Central drawer, with brass handle. Carved hoof legs. Very decorative. XVIII Century, Fra...
Category

18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Cherry, Lacquer

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 Louis XV Style Ormolu-Mounted Bureau Plat by Maison Krieger
Located in New York, NY
A fabulous quality 19th century ormolu-mounted bureau by Maison Krieger. Serpentine top with brown leather writing surface, the frieze set with three drawers, the reverse with false...
Category

Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Louis XV-Style Gilt Bronze Cylinder Desk by François Linke
Located in New York, NY
A stunning cylinder desk with roller shutter in the style of Louis XV, plum pudding mahogany, modeled by Jean-Henri Riesener, signed François Linke. The upper structure fitted with t...
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany

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. The desk is raised by elegant cabriole leg with exquisite pierced fitted ormolu sabots with fine foliate designs and hoof feet below a delicate ormolu chute leading upwards to impressive richly chased ormolu masks of handsome bearded men. The apron displays three drawers separated by impressive curved foliate gadroon designs each displaying superb quarter veneered Kingwood...
Category

18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

French 19th Century Louis XV St. Kingwood, Tulipwood and Ormolu Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A most elegant French 19th century Louis XV st. kingwood, tulipwood and ormolu desk. The desk is raised by beautiful slender tapered cabriole legs with fine fitted foliate ormolu sab...
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

19th Century Lombardy Louis XV Style Center Table
Located in Encinitas, CA
Lombardy style center table in walnut with four curved legs and ebony profiles. Wonderful modern line, clean and elegant. Stylish for a small entry table...
Category

19th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Joan Busquets Workshop Masterpiece Modernist Nouveau Desk Cabinet, ca. 1898
Located in South Burlington, VT
From Spain's Catalan Modernist Furniture Maker Joan Busquets Studio & Workshop A Unique work of Cabinetry Art. JOAN BUSQUETS I (Barcelona, 1874-1949). Modernist Cabinet and Desk, ca. 1898. Modernist desk and cabinet finely crafted from walnut wood with golden polychrome and pyrography. Keyholes, handles and decorative appliques in golden brass. Signed on the front in the lower left corner of the right door. Dimensions: 66 inches high and 46 inches wide and 24 inches deep; 165cm x 116cm x 60 cm This remarkable and unique Catalan modernist cabinet designed by famed furniture designer and maker, Joan Busquets was crafted at Studio Busquets. Barcelona, Spai ca 1898 from walnut wood with fine polychrome gold and decorated with pyrography- the first time in European history that saw this craftsmanship combination of fine studio furniture with fine pyrographic artistic technique. The keyholes, handles and decorative fixtures are made of gilded brass. This Catalan Modernist cabinet was constructed into two (2) sections. The lower cut-out base support section is raised on four stylized legs, with a perpendicularly placed table top- all creatively imagined in a totally sinuous form providing dynamism and originality to this unique design. The upper desk cabinet section has a triple opening, two with hinged doors, one from top to bottom that opens as a desk and the other from left to right revealing two drawers, as well as a top slide out drawer. The interior features several drawers of different sizes all beautifully embellished on their fronts in a golden color pyrography. The entire body of this cabinet desk furniture is richly decorated with typically art nouveau modernist stylized vegetal motifs executed with the artist Busquet's personal pyrography technique, and finally framed with sinuous moldings in relief. This is a superb furniture cabinet within the Catalan modernism genre, given that it was produced by one of the best studio workshops of that time, as well as for the perfection and meticulousness with which each of its details have been executed by artrist designer Busquet. Busquets' workshop was known to have crafted most of the furniture for Antoni Gaudí Casa Calvet, with this being a prime example. About Studio Busquet In 1898 Busquets y Jané introduced for the first time a new technique of polychrome pyrography. This replaced classical marquetry hand craft traditionally applied to furniure of the 19th century. This new design technique was first applied to this cabinet and dates circa 1898. The artist, designer, and decorator Joan Busquets personally hand applied pyrography to his furniture designs and was actively involved in this pyrographic technique widely known of that period as the "Busquets style". About La Casa Busquets: Furniture designer and decorator, Joan Busquets is currently considered one of the most representative artists of Spain's Catalan modernism. He began his training in his family workshop, and then studied at the Escuela de La Llotja in Barcelona, where his teachers were Guitart and Lostaló. In the 1895-96 academic year he obtained a scholarship that allowed him to travel around Spain, which he obtained thanks to a project for a Renaissance-style bookcase-cabinet. He exhibited furniture projects for the first time at the Barcelona Exhibition...
Category

19th Century Spanish Arts and Crafts Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Walnut

Early 20th C. French Louis XV Carved Mahogany and Marble-Top Lady Table Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
Decorate a study or boudoir with this elegant antique lady’s desk. Crafted in France, circa 1900, the cabinet shaped as a kidney sits on four carved ...
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Marble, Bronze

Early 20th Century Louis XV Style Italian Writing Desk or Dressing Table
Located in London, Park Royal
A charming, hand-painted, Louis XV style, Italian writing desk or dressing table from the early 20th century depicting floral motifs with Rococo flourishes and gilded highlighting.
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Paint

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 carv...
Category

19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

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.

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