Ormolu Desks and Writing Tables

A fine Victorian gilt-bronze mounted marquetry inlaid Bureau De Dame. This richly decorated bureau de dame is of bombe shape beautifully inlaid overa...

Antique Louis XVI style mahogany and ormolu bonheur du jour by Winckelsen French, 1864 Height 105cm, width 73cm, depth 42cm Charles-Guillaume Winckelsen (French, 1812-1871) is the c...

Antique French Louis XV style ormolu mounted marquetry desk by Maison Léger French, c. 1880 Height 80cm, width 185cm, depth 98cm This very impressive desk was crafted around 1880 by...

Antique writing table by Beurdeley after a model by Adam Weisweiler French, c. 1880 Height 74cm, width 83cm, depth 46cm Crafted by the prestigious 19th century furniture makers Beu...

Antique French gilt bronze and mahogany bonheur du jour French, Late 19th Century Height 117cm, width 78cm, depth 54cm Made in France in the late 19th century, this elegant bonheu...

A Gilt-Bronze Mounted Burr Walnut Writing Table, Probably by Gillows. The rectangular top has a gilt-bronze surround above a serpentine frieze fronted by a central drawer. The corn...

Antique parquetry, ormolu and leather bureau plat by Ross English, 19th Century Height 76cm, width 120cm, depth 69cm Made by the renowned English furniture maker Donald Ross, this desk is a demonstration of some of his finest work. The desk is decorated with the iconic dotted parquetry trellis, and the centre is inset with a brown leather panel. Gold, debossed detailing adorns the border of the leather panel, its soft texture providing a smooth surface on which to write. An ormolu border frames the desk table top, the four edges mounted with motifs of male bearded masks among acanthus leaves. Below are two lockable drawers, each one decorated in a similar manner to the desk table top. The pair of storage compartments are separated by a central ormolu mount cast in the form of flowing acanthus leaves and foliage garlands. Four tapering legs support the desk, each one terminating in socket castors marked ‘JC’. Ross’ masterpiece is also labelled with a brass label ‘KG 8913’. In the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is a bedside table by Donald Ross of a very similar design to the desk in Mayfair Gallery...

Porcelain and ormolu mounted bonheur du jour by Donald Ross. English, late 19th century. Measures: height 136cm, width 108cm, depth 62cm This beautifu...

The rectangular top with rounded corners over an ormolu egg-and-dart mounted edge and paneled frieze fitted with one drawer; raised on standard end supports...

Very fine ormolu, porcelain and marquetry writing desk by Henry Dasson French, 1890 Height 74cm, depth 80cm, depth 50cm By Dasson, Henry (French, 1825-1896), a leading ébéniste of the French Belle Époque, this beautiful, delicate, and diminutive writing desk...

A Louis XVI style writing table By Lexcellent of Paris Of restrained elegance and sumptuous finish with gilt bronze mounts, the mahogany-veneered writing table supported on taper...

An impressive and monumental rosewood Regency kneehole bureau cabinet with ormolu mounts of exceptional quality, attributed to Seddon and Morel, the central roll-top opening to revea...

An Important Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Mounted Parquetry Pedestal Desk, By Guillaume Grohé. France, Circa 1860. Stamped to the top edge of one door 'GROHE FRERES...

Louis XVI style mahogany, satinwood, ebony and ormolu writing desk by Donald Ross English, Late 19th Century Height 73cm, width 108cm, depth 64cm This excellent piece, a table à écrire, or writing desk, was made by Donald Ross, an important English maker active in the late nineteenth century, in the manner of Jean-Henri Riesener, the renowned, highly acclaimed and towering ébéniste of the Louis XVI period in France. It features a rectangular top surface mounted with a gilt-bronze edge, in which is set a finely tooled gilt leather surface. This, like the frieze drawers around the sides, is set within a lattice veneer parquetry border. The table is divided by a central ormolu appliqué...

This pedestal desk has a rectangular leather inset top and supports a small shelf with an openwork ormolu grille and small columns. The kneehole is flanked by three drawers on either...

An outstanding Louis XV-style mahogany bureau plat after a model by Jacques B. Dubois, from the estate of Phyllis McGuire, the shaped leather-inset top above an elaborate frieze with...

This freestanding writing table has a rectangular leather inset top surmounted by a gallery with an openwork ormolu grille and four columns. The frieze has one long and two short mah...

French 19th century mahogany travel writing desk French, 19th century Measures: Height 94cm, width 53cm, depth 18cm This fine and delicate des...

French gilt bronze and marquetry writing desk after Cressent. French, late 19th century Measures: height 79cm, width 134cm, depth 76cm This very fine desk was retailed by the celebrated English retailers Edwards & Roberts and was designed and crafted in France in the manner of Charles Cressent, who worked during the early eighteenth century in the Régence style. The desk is crafted from rich dark wood finished with chequerboard marquetry and fixed with gilt bronze mounts. The desk features a flat tabletop bordered in gilt bronze, which is raised above an apron and four cabriole legs. The apron features three drawers to the front, each affixed with gilt bronze mounts in a foliate style and modelled as theatrical masks, while the sides of the apron are affixed with gilt bronze grotesques...

English Victorian style mahogany roll top desk that opens to reveal drawers, letter holders, and a gold embossed leather desk surface, with a gilt bronze filigree...

Unusual Transition style marquetry and gilt bronze double sided writing desk French, early 20th Century Height 98cm, width 130cm, depth 94cm This rare doubled-sided writing desk...

Early 20th century French Empire style roll-top desk French, early 20th century Dimensions: Height 113cm, width 84cm, depth 62cm This charming roll-top desk is crafted from ormo...

Antique Mid-19th century ebonised wood, gilt bronze and Pietra Dura desk, French, c. 1860s Dimensions: Height 77cm, width 134cm, depth 78cm This ...

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...

Antique English gilt bronze and marquetry desk by Donald Ross English, c. 1890 Measures: Height 75cm, width 108cm, depth 63cm This elegant mahogany writing desk by Donald Ross f...

Antique English Victorian marquetry writing desk by Donald Ross English, c. 1890 Measures: Height 75cm, width 108cm, depth 64cm This superb mahogany writing desk by Donald Ross ...

Rococo style writing desk mounted with gilt bronze French, late 19th century Measures: Height 78cm, width 134cm, depth 64cm This superb ...

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...

A Louis XVI style gilt bronze and Jasperware mounted mahogany Bureau plat. Stamped 'FOURNIER' to the reverse of the bronze mount to the drawer apron. . This fine bureau plat or...

A fine Regence style gilt-bronze mounted parquetry bureau plat, in the manner of Charles Cressent. This fine parquetry inlaid bureau plat has a too...

A Louis XVI style gilt-bronze mounted bureau plat, with a Breche d'Alep marble top. The bureau plat having a rectangular breche d'Alep marble top above a frieze fitted with three ...

A good writing table in the Manner of Holland & Sons Constructed in mahogany, with specimen wood inlays, and gilt bronze mounts; of rectangular form, with bowed ends, rising from ri...

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...

This beautiful desk, beautifully finished in kingwood, leather and gilt bronze, is a fantastic piece of 19th century French design in the Louis XV style. Elegant, beautifully crafted...

After the model by Jean-Henri Riesener (French, 1734-1806). Of the Napoleon III period, in the Louis XVI style, with fruitwood and ebony inlaid in bois de citronnier, mahogany and amaranth, with a three-quarter galleried rectangular top above a roll-top, opening to reveal a leather-lined writing slide with four short drawers and five pigeon holes, the frieze centred by a push button drawer...

This exquisite marquetry occasional table was crafted in France in the 19th Century, and fashioned in the Transitional style, incorporating both Neoclassical and Rococo elements. The...

French 1940s ormolu mounted maple writing desk with leather inset top above 2 frieze drawers on lyre form trestle supports. (attributed to ANDRE ARBUS)

This beautiful side table was designed in France in the 19th century in the fashionable Rococo, or Louis XV, style. The piece has been crafted from kingwood and decorated with painte...

The beautiful neoclassical style designs of Jean-Henri Riesener (1735-1806), perhaps the most celebrated cabinetmaker of all time, are the inspiration for this wonderful antique side...

French Louis XVI style (1940s) ebonized & gilt bronze trim desk / cartonnier with 2 drawers and a black leather & gold tooled top supported on 4 tapered square legs. (stamped: JANSEN)

Of classical rectangular form, the four cabriole legs capped by ormolu female masks, with a further two masks to the sides, with three drawers and a leather writing surface

French Louis XV style (19th Century) kingwood table desk with parquetry inlay and floral marquetry border and a single drawer with gilt bronze trim (signed: LINKE)

French Louis XV-style (19th Century) kingwood veneer end table with 2 drawer (top drawer for writing) with an inlaid top and gilt bronze trim.