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Desks and Writing Tables For Sale
Style: Art Nouveau
Style: Louis XV
19th Century Italian Louis XV Style Walnut Large Writing Desk
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
Majestic antique Italian louis XV style large writing desk. Rare and precious walnut wood. Comfortable size for a practical use. The desk has elegan...
Category
1880s Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Italian Mid 18th Century Louis XV Period Center Table/Desk circa 1740
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A spectacular and very high quality Italian mid 18th century Louis XV period Walnut, Rosewood, Charmwood and bone center table/desk circa 1740. This table from the Piedmont region is...
Category
18th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bone, Rosewood, Walnut
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
French 18th Century Louis XV Period Kingwood, Tulipwood and Ormolu Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A most elegant and extremely high quality French 18th century Louis XV period Kingwood, Tulipwood, and ormolu desk circa. 1750. The Bureau à Cylindre desk...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French 19th Century Louis XV St. Kingwood Inlaid Secretary
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A most elegant French 19th century Louis XV st. Rosewood, ormolu, and Brocatelle d’Espagne marble secretary desk. The two door five drawer secretary is raised by fine cabriole legs w...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Ormolu
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
Early Paint Antique French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Desk & Stool
Located in GB
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
Rounded Italian Executive Desk in Louis XV Style Marquetry Bronze 1950 Inlaid
Located in Ijzendijke, NL
Breathtaking & impressive! This rounded Italian Louis XV style executive desk with inlaid wood & bronze.
A desk build to impress and impress she does, truly amazing craftsmanship ...
Category
19th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
French 18th Century Louis XV Period Kingwood And Tulipwood Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A sensational and elegant French 18th century Louis XV period kingwood and tulipwood inlaid desk, with all of its original ormolu and hardware. The desk is raised by slender cabriole...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
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...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French 19th Century Louis XV Style Tulipwood and Ormolu Center Table
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A very impressive and extremely high quality French 19th century Louis XV st. Tulipwood, Rosewood, ormolu, and Rouge Royale marble center table/desk by Theodore Millet...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Ormolu
20th Century Desk Bureau Plat in Antique Louis XV Style Mahogany Veneer
Located in Berlin, DE
In Bois-Satiné veneer, all-round full-length mirror veneer with seed beads. Extremely fine, floral, bronze fittings in the form of chutes, handmade patinated bronze. Rosewood veneere...
Category
Late 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
19th Century antique Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Table bronze
Located in Berlin, DE
Castle worthy desk, solid wood. Rosewood veneer edged by finely engraved brass fittings. On angled, with four looking forward, imposing female busts on curly legs, on all sides scalloped, dreischübige frame with slightly recessed and elevated knee compartment. Protruding, profiled and curved writing...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French 19th Century Louis XV St. Kingwood and Ormolu Desk Possibly by François L
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and extremely high quality French 19th century Louis XV st. Kingwood and ormolu desk possibly by François Linke. The desk is raised by elegant cabriole legs with handsome ...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
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
Antique Japanese Art Nouveau Dragon Carved 4 Drawer Partners Desk and Chair
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique Japanese Art Nouveau Dragon carved 4 drawer partners desk and chair. Set includes (1) partner's desk with working drawers on both sides...
Category
Mid-20th Century Japanese Art Nouveau Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French 19th Century Louis XV St. Kingwood and Ormolu Desk, Attributed to Linke
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and extremely high quality French 19th century Louis XV st. kingwood and ormolu desk, attributed to François Linke. The desk is raised by elegant cabriole legs with fitted...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French 19th Century Louis XV St. Ebony, Tortoiseshell, Brass, and Leather Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and unique French 19th century Louis XV st. ebony, tortoiseshell, brass, and leather Boulle st. desk. The desk is raised by four elegant cabriole legs with fine fitted fol...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Ormolu
Louis XV Style Folding Desk with One Drawer, 1950
Located in Miami, FL
Louis XV style folding desk with one drawer. An exceptional Louis XV style desk, made of early Italian antique oak wood.
This piece screams high quality. Beautiful grain and patina....
Category
Mid-20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
20th Century French Bureau Plat Desk in the Louis XV Style Black Ebonized Veneer
Located in Berlin, DE
Black ebonized, four-sided passively curved frame base on high, elegantly curved squares. Encased in finely chiseled brass fittings. Slightly protruding tabletop with profiled decorated bronze lining and gold-imprinted leather imitation insert (the color of the leather is black not blue)
Decorative perforated rocaille appliques and decorative moldings...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Beech
Fine French 19th-20th Century Louis XV Style Giltwood Carved Center Hall Table
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine French 19th-20th century Louis XV style giltwood carved center gall table with marble top. The rectangular shaped frame intricately carved frame with an "X" stretcher centered...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble
Art Nouveau Double Sided Walnut and Rosewood Desk by Lajos Kozma, 1930
By Lajos Kozma
Located in Rome, IT
This rare large double sided desk was designed by Lajos (Ludwig) Kozma, who had an unprecedented influence on the European design through his drawings, buildings and furniture.
Th...
Category
1920s European Art Nouveau Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Antique Art Nouveau Carved Oak Northwind Face Desk Library Table with One Drawer
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique English Art Nouveau carved oak wood desk library table with one drawer. Item features carved Northwind faces to front and rear, brass corner mou...
Category
20th Century English Art Nouveau Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
Elegant Satinwood Art Nouveau Partners with Desk Blue Suede Top, ca 1915
Located in Charleston, SC
Elegant satinwood art nouveau partners desk with blue suede top, heart carved corners, and ball-and-claw feet, Circa 1915.
Category
Early 20th Century Unknown Art Nouveau Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Satinwood
Régence Style Marquetry Writing Desk
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A magnificent and very rare Régence style marquetry inlaid grand bureau plat or writing desk.
Inscribed to the carcass 'Moreaux 72'.
Dating from the second half of the nineteenth century this magnificent and very rare bureau plat has finely cast rocaille gilt-bronze mounts and is decorated overall with truly breath-taking seventeenth century marquetry, depicting fantastical townscapes, knights, soldiers, hunting and architectural-scenes.
Of serpentine rectangular form the top is veneered with superb marquetry panels within a foliate scrolled border and a rocaille shell-cast gilt-bronze surround, both sides featuring a recessed central drawer flanked on each side by a drawer applied with male and female terms, scrolled handles, and reserves with conforming drawers; the bombé sides are centred by foliate scrolls, and the whole raised on cabriole legs headed by cartouches with foliate entwined chutes terminating in scrolled sabots.
Of impressive scale this fine bureau plat, in the manner of a partners desk, features working drawers to each side.
This model of bureau plat was made by a small number of celebrated Parisian cabinet makers in the second half of the 19th century including Beurdeley, Cremer and Befort Jeune. It is incredibly rare to see this model of bureau plat inlaid in marquetry.
The exceptional quality and style indicate the use of older reused marquetry, almost certainly dating from the late 17th century and originating from the Augsburg region of Germany.
Similar models but lacking the exceptional marquetry inlay can be found in the collection of the Duke of Buccleuch at Bowhill, and the Earl of Normanton at Somerlely. Christopher Payne notes that the latter was part of a pair sold by the London dealer Toms & Luscombe in 1871. He illustrates the present bureau plat in his book ‘European Furniture of the 19th Century’ (p. 88-89), along with two related desks minus the marquetry inlay (p. 92 -93).
The exceptional and highly complex marquetry inlay and intarsia work, that sets this important bureau plat apart from other extant examples, would originally have formed the decorative panels of a late 17th century table cabinet, almost certainly ascribable to the Augsburg region of Germany.
Augsburg emerged from the middle of the 16th century as the German centre of luxury cabinet making for the international market. In particular, the development of marquetry contributed to this prominent position, favoured by the ready availability of indigenous woods and the reputation that Augsburg had the best craftsmen able to cut thin layers of veneers in the most intricate motifs (C.S. Wood, ‘The Perspective Treatise in Ruins: Lorenz Stöer, Geometria et perspectiva, 1567’, Studies in the History of Art, no. 59, p. 246).
Table cabinets, conceived as a form of Wunderkammer or cabinets of curiosities, were intended as repositories for all manner of wondrous and exotic objects and by the 1550s the grandest cabinets in Europe were being made in Augsburg. Decorated almost entirely with sumptuous marquetry, often depicting perspective views of ruins and fantastical townscapes, they become by the 1590s highly regarded as important diplomatic gifts.
Fine Augsburg marquetry panels remained popular throughout the ages and were frequently re-used to create or embellish new items of furniture, such as this magnificent bureau plat. Their inclusion was not only for their highly decorative appeal, but to contemporary eyes, a means by which to imbue a new creation with a sense of true historical authenticity.
The importance of such panels is often reflected in the high cost involved in repurposing them. A fine example of this is the celebrated 17th century cabinet on stand...
Category
Mid-19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Antique French Louis XV Small Inlaid Petite Demilune Writing Desk Made in France
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique French Louis XV style small inlaid petite Demilune writing desk, made in France. Item features marble top, green leather pullout or pull-...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Bronze
French Louis XV Black Lacquer Bronze Figural Ormolu Bureau Plat Writing Desk
Located in Philadelphia, PA
French Louis XV ebonized black lacquer bronze figural Ormolu Bureau plat writing desk. Item features faux 3 drawer finished back (image 10), ornate bronz...
Category
Mid-20th Century Spanish Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
20th Century antique Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Table Piano Black
Located in Berlin, DE
Bureau plat writing table in the style of Louis XV style, silvered bronze fittings. Piano lacquer black on solid beech wood. Heavily arched, four-sided passively curved tripod frame ...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Beech
Rococo Style Writing Desk Mounted with Gilt Bronze
Located in London, GB
Rococo style writing desk mounted with gilt bronze
French, late 19th century
Measures: Height 78cm, width 134cm, depth 64cm
This superb ...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu, Bronze
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...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Fine Louis XV Style Marquetry Bureau Plat Attributed to François Linke
Located in Montreal, QC
A fine and Important Louis XV style Bureau plat attributed to François Linke (1855-1946) after a model by Jean François Oeben. Typical of the work by François Linke, this desk featur...
Category
1890s French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Desk, Rosewood and Ormulu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Antique Louis XV style bureau plat writing desk, rosewood and Ormulu mounts, raised on cabriole legs. Tooled leather top.
Dimensions: 43” W x 31.5” H x 25.5” D
Side drawers (2): ...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
19th Century French Louis XV Leather Top Rosewood Marquetry & Bronze Ladies Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
This elegant antique rosewood table was crafted in France, circa 1860. The writing table with serpentine front and bombe sides, stands on cabrio...
Category
Mid-19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
19th Century French Louis XV Style Walnut Writing Table with Red Leather Top
Located in Dallas, TX
A Louis XV style French writing table in walnut with bronze hardware and an antique red leather tooled top.
This beautiful table is probably from ...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
19th Century Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Table
Located in Berlin, DE
Bureau plat in the style of the Louis XV Napoleon III Paris, circa 1850-1880.
In Bois-Satiné veneer, all-round full-length mirror veneer with seed beads. With very finely chiselled,...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood, Beech
French Bureau Plat / Desk in Louis XV, Paris, circa 1880
Located in Berlin, DE
French Bureau plat / desk in Louis XV, Paris, circa 1880.
Solid beech wood veneer. Extremely fine, floral bronze fittings.
Cambered and pronounced / arched wooden body. Four-side...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
18th Century French Louis XV Carved Serpentine Cherry Desk with Parquetry Top
Located in Dallas, TX
This elegant antique partner desk was created in the Poitou region of France, circa 1790. Made of wild cherry timber, the large writing table stand...
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
19th Century, French Louis XV Style, Lacquered Wood Desk
Located in IT
19th century, French Louis XV style, lacquered wood desk
This elegant lacquered wooden desk was made in France between the end of the 19th centu...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
20th Century Elegant Veneered Bureau Plat or Writing Desk in Louis XV Style
Located in Berlin, DE
Elegant veneered bureau plat or desk in Louis XV style
Solid beechwood and veneer. Very fine, floral bronze fittings.
Curved and pronounced or arched wooden body. Frame base with...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
French Mahogany Art Nouveau Writing Desk Signed Louis Majorelle
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
Signed ‘Louis Majorelle’ Art Nouveau desk with the sinuous lines and curves typical of the style. Four curved-front drawers retaining their original ormolu Art Nouveau pulls...
Category
Early 1900s French Art Nouveau Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Louis XV Style Lacquered and Gilt Bronze-Mounted Bureau Plat
Located in Dallas, TX
Fine, French bureau plat or writing table desk. Made in the grand Louis XV taste featuring bronze mounts with white lacquered frame. With original key. Fine rocaille motif moulded mo...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XV Rococo Mahogany, Satinwood and Bureau Plat Executive Writing Desk
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Vintage midcentury era Louis XV Rococo style executive writing desk made from mahogany, satinwood, and bureau Plat with hand-cast bronze accents. It features three lockable horizonta...
Category
1950s Spanish Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
20th Century Luxurious White Bureau Plat / Writing Desk in Louis XV Style
Located in Berlin, DE
20th century luxurious white bureau plat / writing desk in Louis XV style
Solid beechwood colored in white. Very fine, floral bronze fittings.
Curved ...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Mounted Writing Desk by Poteau
Located in London, GB
Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted writing desk by Poteau
French, late 19th century
Size: Height 78cm, width 180cm, depth 87cm
This beautiful Louis XV style writing desk is rais...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
Louis XV Style Writing Desk by François Linke
Located in New Orleans, LA
Superior craftsmanship and elegant bronze work characterize this tambour front roll top writing desk by François Linke, the most important French ébéniste of his time. Linke is celeb...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Fine 19th Century French Louis XV Bronze Mounted Kingwood & Walnut Writing Desk
Located in Hopewell, NJ
A very fine and original French 19th century Louis XV bronze mounted kingwood and walnut bureau plat. The writing desk has serpentine shape gilt banding around the top surface, three...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Art Deco Luxury Vanity Console in Walnut, Ebony and Marble
Located in Antwerp, BE
High-end walnut and ebony vanity table
This eclectic and exuberant piece shows a beautiful form
with stunning details such as the hand carved claw feet
and flower motives
The sides have a red and white marble top
very solid brass door hinges...
Category
1930s Italian Art Nouveau Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble
18th Century Italian Louis XV Writing Table Inlaid Rosewood Center Desk
Located in Milan, IT
Elegant 18th century Italian rosewood center table from Tuscany, Italy, a rectangular shaped Louis XV veneered desk with one small drawer on the front, raised by elegant à cabriole legs with superlative and contrasting ebony and box wood inlaid profiles, ending with curled feet.
This antique Italian table...
Category
Mid-18th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Boxwood, Ebony, Rosewood
Late 19th Century Tyrolean Shabby Small Desk Table Art Nouveau, Pine Painted
Located in Vigonza, Padua
1980s-1990s Tyrol Austrian shabby small desk table country Art Nouveau, in solid pine with original painting, only wax polished.
Measures cm: H 62, ...
Category
Late 19th Century Austrian Art Nouveau Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Pine
French Louis XV Walnut Kidney Kneehole Desk
Located in New York, NY
19th century French Louis XV style walnut kidney shaped kneehole desk with gilt trim and brass scroll handles.
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
French 19th Century Louis XV Style Flamed Mahogany and Ormolu Bureau Plat Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A magnificent French 19th century Louis XV style flamed mahogany and ormolu Bureau plat desk. The desk is raised by handsome cabriole legs with exquisitely chased ormolu acanthus lea...
Category
19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Piero Zen Small Desk with Maple and Mather of Pearl Inlays, Italy Milan
By Carlo Zen
Located in Sacile, PN
Piero Zen small desk with nickel silver feet and frezies, maple and mather of pearl inlays, circa 1905.
The friezes around the top carry small ruby glass half-spheres.
Signature ...
Category
Early 1900s Italian Art Nouveau Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Alpaca, Wood
Mid Century Louis XV Bombe Hand-Carved Paint Decorated Marble-Top Desk & Chair
Located in Port Jervis, NY
Beautiful five-drawer desk with hand carvings (see thumbnail photos) and paint decorated in the Louis XV style. Top quality workmanship in every phase. Original matching chair with this desk that is finished on all sides and can be placed in the middle of a room, bombe on all sides. Serpentine marble top...
Category
1950s American Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble
20th Century Louis XV Style Womens Tulip Veneer, Bureau Plat or Desk
Located in Berlin, DE
Tulip wood veneered. Extremely fine, floral, bronze fittings. Four-sided, slightly curved, three-edged frame base with wide knee patch on elegantly curved squares in sabots. Slightly...
Category
20th Century Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Fine Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze-Mounted Tulipwood Bureau Plat
Located in Atlanta, GA
A fine Louis XV style gilt bronze-mounted tulipwood bureau plat.
Late 19th century. The replaced gilt-stamped green leather writing surface with...
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XV Style Inlay Butler's Desk, circa 1920
Located in Southampton, NY
Louis XV style inlay butler's desk, circa 1920.
Two tiers, both with small central drawers, topped by marble. Leather top which pulls out atop of drawer sitting on cabriole legs. Lovely banding details and original ormolu hardware...
Category
Early 20th Century American Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Bonnin Ashley Custom Made Pine Writing Table or Desk in the Jugendstil Style
Located in Miami, FL
This table is a faithful reproduction of a Scandinavian Jugendstil antique writing table in our collection, circa 1900.
Pine table with drawer fabricated from, reclaimed cheese boar...
Category
2010s American Jugendstil Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Pine
18th Century Louis XV Wood French Writing Table
Located in IT
The very unusual and particular center desk, called also bureau plat, was made in France, at Paris, in the 18th century, Louis XV period. It has a refined veneer in wood and a slidin...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
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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Mahogany Three Drawer Writing Desk
Burr Walnut Desk
Mahogany Inlay Writing Desk
Antique Large Oak Desk
Corner Desk Mid Century Modern
Antique Lift Top Desk
Empire Writing Desk
Executive Walnut Desk
Hardwood Antique Desks
Mid Century Modern Brass Walnut Desk
Partners Desk Used
Small Metal Writing Table
Wood Brass Inlay Desk
Kingwood Writing Desk
Large Antique Oak Desk