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Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

LOUIS XV STYLE

The style of 18th-century French furniture was guided by the court. When Louis XV, who reigned from 1715–74, focused royal life on the smaller salons of Versailles rather than its grand chambers, it transformed the aesthetics away from the imposing and angular furniture that characterized the style of Louis XIV. A broader focus on comfort and more delicate forms define antique Louis XV furniture, with nature-inspired carvings, wood inlays, curved cabriole legs, asymmetrical shapes and rounded oval seat backs. The furnishings changed throughout the king’s life, as he ascended to the throne as a child and then grew to establish his own tastes.

Pieces like the bergère, an upholstered armchair with a wide cushion that fit the flowing dresses in fashion at the time, reflected this more informal court. Introduced at the start of Louis XV’s reign, bergère chairs in this style were deeper and broader than other chairs of the period.

Louis XV tapestries and carpets tended to be floral and colorful, and design elements were borrowed from Asia. Dutch-born cabinetmaker Bernard van Risenburgh brought lacquer techniques influenced by Japan and China into his luxuriously made furniture. Along with its fine details, the furniture of the era also featured new innovations including mechanical devices. Jean François Oeben, a royal cabinetmaker, created such intricate pieces as a mechanical table for Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV’s mistress. It involved a sliding top and a writing surface that extended from its marquetry panels.

During the later years of Louis XV’s reign, there was a shift from the ostentatious rocaille style, part of the exuberantly decorative Rococo movement in Europe for which designers such as Nicolas Pineau and Juste-Aurèle Meissonier are known. The style under Louis XVI would return to boxier forms, but with a neoclassical touch inspired by the ancient world.

Find antique Louis XV bedroom furniture, seating, tables and decorative objects on 1stDibs.

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Style: Louis XV
Returnable Items Only
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

Louis XV Style Tall Standing Desk / Table by Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdley
Located in Dallas, TX
a Louis XV style Second Empire (Napoleon III) small writing desk / table (lectern, stand, or podium) of fruitwood and kingwood, with an embossed gilt green leather slant-front writin...
Category

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

Materials

Bronze, Ormolu

Important Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Attributed to G. Durand, France, Circa 1880
Located in PARIS, FR
Large veneered wood flat desk attributed to G. Durand, opening with three frieze drawers. Mounted with Rocaille style chiseled ormolu representing shells, foliage and flower garlands. Raised on four cabriole legs ornamented with chiseled ormolu. This flat desk is inspired by the one executed by the cabinet-maker Joseph Baumhauer, which was offered by King Louis XV to Empress Elisabeth...
Category

1880s French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French 1800s Louis XV Style Walnut Desk with Green Leather and Lifting Panel
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV style walnut desk from the early 19th century, with lifting panel, green leather writing surface and cabriole legs. Born in France during the early years of the 19t...
Category

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

Materials

Walnut, Leather

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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Kingwood

Table, Office from the Beginning of the 19th Century, Louis XV Style in Blackene
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Table, office from the beginning of the 19th century, Louis XV style in blackened wood, very decorative antiquity Measures: H 77cm, W 68cm, D 53cm.
Category

1860s French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

19th Century Louis XV Style Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Kingwood Bureau Plat
Located in New York, NY
An exquisite quality French Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted tulipwood and kingwood bureau plat attributed to Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener Attributed to Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener (1848...
Category

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

Materials

Kingwood, Tulipwood

Large Louis XV Style 19th Century Bureau Plat
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality 19th century French kingwood parquetry inlaid Louis XV style freestanding bureau plate. Having an inset leather top, five oak lined drawers to one side, dummy dra...
Category

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

Materials

Ormolu

French Louis XV Style Ladies Writing Desk
Located in Pembroke, MA
An elegant French Louis XV style petit writing desk with gilt-bronze mounts, including escutcheon, knees sabots and chutes. One central locking drawer and a nicely embossed brown le...
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French 1790s Louis XV Style Walnut and Elm Writing Table with Single Drawer
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV style walnut and elm writing table from the late 18th century, with single drawer and cabriole legs. Born in France during the later years of the 18th century, this...
Category

Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Elm, Walnut

French Louis XV Style Walnut Table with Bronze Mounts, 1930s
Located in Barntrup, DE
French Louis XV-style table with bronze mounts, the 1930s This elegant Louis XV-style table or writing desk is made of walnut with a veneered walnut parquetry design and elegant bron...
Category

1930s French Vintage Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Majestic French Bureau Plat Desk According to Andre C. Boulle
Located in Berlin, DE
Root veneer on solid beech and oak. Extremely finely chiselled bronze. Three-wheeled frame base with wide knee-section on four cabriole legs with forward looking, imposing Espagnolet...
Category

18th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Rare Louis XV Style Marquetry Inlaid Bureau de Dame François Linke, circa 1980
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A rare and unusual Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted and marquetry inlaid Bureau de Dame by François Linke. French, circa 1890. Signed to the gilt-bronze rim ‘Linke’. Stampe...
Category

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

Materials

Bronze

French Louis XV Style Verne Martin Painted Desk
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19th Century) Verne Martin painted desk with bronze trim.
Category

19th Century Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

20th Century Louis XV Style Ladies Bureau Plat or Desk
Located in Berlin, DE
Elegant ladies bureau plat desk in the Louis XV style, rosewood and shaded precious wood, veneered. Extremely fine, floral, bronze fittings. Four-sided, ...
Category

20th Century Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French Louis XV Style Provincial Oak Kneehole Desk
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19th Century) provincial oak kneehole desk with brown leather top.
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Oak

18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat
Located in Berlin, DE
18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat An 18th century gilt-bronze mounted double-face desk or bureau plat with herring-bone marquetry. The k...
Category

18th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French Louis XV Style Kingwood Desk with Sèvres Plaques
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19th Century) kingwood lady's desk with Sevres porcelain panels and bronze trimmed gallery.
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French Louis XV Style Walnut Table Desk
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19/20th Century) walnut table desk with gilt trim and stretcher.
Category

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

Materials

Walnut

French Rococo Louis XV Distress Paint Dressing Table Vanity Ladies Writing Desk
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique French Louis XV / Rococo style hand-carved and distressed dressing table / ladies writing desk. Item features a shaped turtle top with diamond sunburst veneer, single hand do...
Category

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

Materials

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 Vintage Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Marble

Petite French Louis XV Style Walnut Slant-Front Desk, Stamped, circa 1810
Located in Atlanta, GA
A stamped French Louis XV style small walnut slant-front desk with sliding inlaid panels, long drawer and inner compartments from the early 19th century. This petite French desk...
Category

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

Materials

Walnut

20th Century Bureau Plat or Writting Table by the Model of Andre Charles Boulle
Located in Berlin, DE
This model was built by Charles Boulle, the most important and historian of Louis XV. Piano white Polished veneer on solid beech and oak. Extremely finely...
Category

20th Century Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

18th Century Louis XV Marquetry Ladies' Desk Manner of J.C. Ellaume
Located in Berlin, DE
18th Century Louis XV Marquetry Ladies' Desk Manner of J.C. Ellaume A mid-18th century ladies' desk or so-called "bureau de pente", its shaped fall-front opening to reveal a red lea...
Category

1750s French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Large Regence Style Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat
Located in London, GB
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
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

French Louis XV Style Parquetry Table Desk
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (20th Century) desk with a parquetry inlaid top and gilt bronze trim with a single drawer.
Category

20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

French Louis XV Style Black Lacquered Desk with Red Tooled Leather Top
Located in Dallas, TX
French Louis XV style black lacquered desk with a red tooled leather top and bronze hardware.
Category

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

Materials

Bronze

French 19th Century Floral Marquetry and Gilt Bronze Table
Located in London, GB
A ladies writing table in the Louis XV transitional manner. Of freestanding form, constructed in kingwood, with good marquetry inlays, and having gilt bronze mounts; rising from swept cabriole legs with foliate form bronze sabots, and foliate espagnolettes over; the apron houses a lockable central drawer, with gilt bronze handles and a keyhole escutcheon; the shaped serpentine platform having a centrally situated floral bouquet, within a trellis delineated ground, the whole having a gilt bronze guard...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French Louis XV Style Kingwood Table Desk with Parquetry Inlay
Located in New York, NY
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)
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

French Louis XV Style Kingwood Veneer End Table
Located in New York, NY
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.
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

French Louis XV Style Kingwood Veneer Desk with Tooled Leather Top
Located in New York, NY
French Louis XV style (19th Century) kingwood veneer desk with 5 drawers and gold tooled leather top with bronze sabot feet and escutcheons.
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze, Gold Leaf

Small Louis XV Side Table - France, 18th Century
Located in Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse
Charming carved table on cabriole legs, with central drawer.
Category

18th Century and Earlier French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

French Louis XV 19th Century Walnut Hoof Foot Desk or Writing Table
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Elegant French Louis XV 19th century walnut three-drawer (dovetailed) desk from Avignon with embossed leather top, original key and cabriole legs. This remarkable desk, crafted from ...
Category

19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

20th Century France Louis XV Kingwood Inlaid Marquetry Desk and Writing Table
By Charles Topino
Located in Roma, RM
Purple ebony centre desk - France, 20th century, in the manner of CHARLES TOPINO, XIX century Purple ebony inlaid with fruit wood with veneered top and table representing still life ...
Category

Early 20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Fruitwood, Kingwood

Louis XV Leather Top Desk
Located in Westwood, NJ
A French Louis XV style fine deep rosewood bureau plat writing desk, the leather inset brass moulded edge top above three shaped frieze drawers wi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Vietnamese Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

20th Century Exclusive Bureau Plat/ writing Desk in Louis XV
Located in Berlin, DE
20th century exclusive bureau plat/ writing desk in Louis XV style Solid beechwood ebonized/blackened. Very fine, floral bronze fittings. Frame base with four-sided curvature. 3 d...
Category

20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

French 1850 Writing table with Curvy Top, Single Drawer and Cabriole Legs
Located in Atlanta, GA
This French Louis XV style mid-19th century wooden desk / writing table features a beautifully curvy three-plank top over a simple apron with a single drawer. The table is raised on ...
Category

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

Materials

Wood

Louis Xv desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Louis XV desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage desks and writing tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables, case pieces and storage cabinets and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, metal and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Louis XV desks and writing tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and North America pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original desks and writing tables, popular names associated with this style include François Linke, Baker Furniture Company, Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdeley, and L. Cueunieres Ebeniste.. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for desks and writing tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $486 and tops out at $1,000,000 while the average work can sell for $6,433.

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