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
French Louis XV Style 19th Century Walnut Desk with Drawers and Cabriole Legs
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV style walnut desk from the 19th century, with two drawers and cabriole legs. Created in France during the 19th century, this walnut desk features a rectangular plan...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XV-inspired Writing Table Stamped H. Nelson, France, circa 1880
By Henri Nelson
Located in PARIS, FR
Stamped H. Nelson
Charming Louis XV-inspired scalloped-shaped writing table in kingwood veneer and decorated with a fine gilded and chiseled bronze mount. The tray, surrounded by a ...
Category
1880s French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Porphyry, Bronze
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
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
French Louis XV Style Walnut Table Desk
Located in Queens, 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 Louis XV Style Parquetry Table Desk
Located in Queens, 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 19th century Louis XV st. Kingwood and Ormolu desk in the style of Linke
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and extremely high quality French 19th century Louis XV st. Kingwood and Ormolu desk, in the style of François Linke. The exceptional desk is raised by elegant cabriole le...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French Louis XV Style Kingwood Veneer End Table
Located in Queens, 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
Louis XV Style Reading Table Attributed to H. Dasson, France, Circa 1885
By Henry Dasson
Located in PARIS, FR
Charming Louis XV style reading table attributed to H. Dasson. It opens on one side by a compartmental drawer and by a sliding shelf, forming a writing board and being able to switch...
Category
1880s French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Ormolu
Small Louis XV Style Marquetry Desk, circa 1880
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
- Marquetry wood
- Gilt and chiseled bronze
- 1880 period
- Leather top
- Three drawers.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Kingwood
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...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
20th Century antique Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Writing Table Piano White
Located in Berlin, DE
Bureau plat writing table in the style of Louis XV style, silvered bronze fittings. Piano lacquer white on solid beech wood. Heavily arched, four-sided passively curved tripod frame ...
Category
20th Century French Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Beech
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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bone, Rosewood, Walnut
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
A French 19th century Louis XV st. Kingwood and Ormolu Bureau Plat
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and high quality French 19th century Louis XV st. Kingwood and Ormolu Bureau Plat. The desk is raised by elegant cabriole legs with rich wrap around ormolu sabots. Ormolu ...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
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
Ladies writing, jewellery cabinet, French, circa 1890
By Jonathan Levien
Located in Brighton, Sussex
An early Victorian porcelain and ormolu mounted rosewood and tulipwood jewellery coffer on stand or coffre a bijoux attributed to Johann Martin Levien (1811-1871)
Circa 1845, an identical model forms part of the Royal Collection
The quarter veneered box superstructure mounted with five oval Sevres style porcelain plaques painted with a trio of putti and four pairs of putti, variously allegorical of viniculture, geography, astronomy, literature, music and fire making, each plaque set within a shaped C- and S-scroll, floral, foliate and rocaille panel mount, the superstructure comprised of a hinged top enclosing a velvet lined interior, above a cavetto leaf mounted panelled frieze, with canted floral clasped angles, over a re-entrant panel mounted hinged fall front enclosing two pigeon holes, two short mahogany lined tulipwood veneered drawers and one shelf, on a stand with a shaped apron mounted with four oval Sevres style painted porcelain plaques, each within a ribbon tied entwined twin oak...
Category
19th Century English Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Tulipwood
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 Antique Louis XV 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
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
Louis XV Style Bureau Plat in the Manner of Charles Cressent, circa 1890
By Charles Cressent
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Louis XV style gilt-bronze mounted bureau plat in the manner of Charles Cressent.
French, circa 1890.
With one central frieze drawer and two shaped end drawers, on cabriole ...
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 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 Antique Louis XV Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
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
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.