Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
LOUIS XVI STYLE
Reflecting the final era of royal opulence before the upheaval of the French Revolution, antique Louis XVI furniture features more angular shapes than the Rococo curves of the Louis XV style, harkening back to the imposing grandeur of Louis XIV.
Dating between 1750 and 1800, an era that overlapped with the last king of France whose reign was cut short by the guillotine, Louis XVI furniture, known as the goût grec, is emblematic of the neoclassical revision that French furniture underwent during the second half of the 18th century.
Authentic Louis XVI furniture characteristics include clean lines and carved details such as scrolls and acanthus flourishes that were inspired by ancient Greece and Rome. This was informed by a burgeoning interest in antiquity in the 18th century, owing to new archaeological excavations at sites including Pompeii and Herculaneum. It largely eclipsed the more East Asian–influenced ornamentation of Louis XV for something more geometric and symmetrical.
The Louis XVI style was defined by what was being created for the palatial rooms at Versailles and Fontainebleau, particularly for the queen, with cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener being a favorite of Marie-Antoinette’s for his luxurious pieces accented with gilded bronze and marquetry. Furniture maker Jean-Baptiste-Claude Sené was also a major designer of the period, with his pieces for the royal residences adorned with giltwood and neoclassical touches like tapered columns for chair legs and laurel leaf carvings. Cabinetmaker Adam Weisweiler occasionally incorporated into his furniture porcelain panels produced by Sèvres, a popular manufacturer of European ceramics that served the crown with serveware, vases and other decorative objects.
Find a collection of antique Louis XVI seating, tables, cabinets and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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Style: Louis XVI
Antique French Louis XVI Style Knee Hole Desk
Located in London, GB
An absolutely stunning antique French knee hole desk. This was made in France, it dates from around the 1930’s.
It is a lovely petite size, and...
Category
1930s French Vintage Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Ormolu
Louis XVI Style Mahogany Writing Table, circa 1890
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality 19th century French Louis XVI style mahogany bureau plat. Having an inset leather top, gilded ormolu mouldings and scrolling foliate mounts to the frieze, two fri...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French 19th Century Louis XVI St. Mahogany Lady’s Cylinder Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A most elegant French 19th century Louis XVI st. Mahogany, brass, ormolu, and Sarrancolin marble cylinder desk. The desk is raised by slender circular tapered fluted legs with beauti...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Brass, Ormolu
French Louis XVI Style Parquetry Inlaid Table Desk
Located in Queens, NY
French Louis XVI style (19th Century) parquetry inlaid top table desk with bronze trim and single drawer.
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XVl Style Marquetry Bonheur du Jour
Located in Montreal, QC
A writing table with a fitted superstructure, this beautifully crafted and elegant piece has all the positive attributes. The upper section is enclosed by a pair of doors each with o...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
French Louis XVI Style Parquetry Desk
Located in Pembroke, MA
A high-quality French Louis XVI style desk with geometric parquetry in mahogany with gilt-bronze mounts, including swags at the corners. The desk has three drawers with working locks...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
French Louis XVI style writing table, circa 1890
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality late 19th Century French Mahogany bureau plat in the style of Louis XVI.
Having an inset leather top, a frieze drawer, gilded ormolu mounts and raised on elegant ...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French 19th century Louis XVI st. Mahogany, Kingwood and Ormolu table/desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An elegant and high quality French 19th century Louis XVI st. Mahogany, Kingwood and Ormolu center table/desk, attributed to Francois Linke. This truly stunning rectangular table/des...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Louis XVI style Bureau plat, 19th Century
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality late 19th Century French Louis XVI style bureau plat. Having an inset leather top, gilded ormolu mouldings and mounts. Trellis parquetry to the frieze, with flora...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
French 18th Century Large Louis XVI Marquetry Desk or Bureau à Cylindre
By Jean Kisling
Located in Berlin, DE
French 18th century large Louis XVI marquetry desk or bureau à Cylindre
An exceptional marquetry secrétaire in the form of a bureau with a cylinder front and on a stand with four ...
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
18th Century Country Side Writing Table
Located in Madrid, ES
A nice French country writing table, Louis XVI period, in solid oak, with a long drawer and drawer handle in bronze, the legs finished in sabot.
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
19th Century Belgian Notary Desk Made of Oak
Located in Dusseldorf, DE
Original notary desk or writing furniture from the 19th century in Belgium. Made of solid oak.
Standing on lion feet, 2 firmly connected base cabinets, ea...
Category
19th Century Belgian Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak, Wood
20th Century France Bureau Plat in the antique Louis Quinze Style exotic Veneer
Located in Berlin, DE
Light and dark exotic Veneer, on the four-sided passively curved zest base on high, elegantly curved squares. Slightly overlaid tabletop with profiled decorated bronze lining and gold-embossed leather insert. Decorative perforated rocaille appliqués and decorative moldings...
Category
20th Century French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Louis XVI Style Desk Made by Paul Sormani
By Paul Sormani
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Elegant Louis XVI style desk made by Paul Sormani (1817-1877). Made of veneered wood and gilt bronze sheathed on top of a patiné havane leather. Molded and decorated on all sides wit...
Category
1870s French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French Linke Influenced Bureau Plat, circa 1890
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A very good quality late 19th century French Louis XVI style mahogany bureau plat, in the manner of Francoise Linke. Having an inset leather top, gilded ormolu mouldings, three friez...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Beautiful Louis XVI Style Writing Table, France, Circa 1880
Located in PARIS, FR
Beautiful Louis XVI style wooden writing table. The rectangular top, surrounded on three sides by a fine pierced and gilt-bronze frieze, above a d...
Category
1880s French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Louis XVI Style Pietre Dure Mounted Ebonised Writing Table, circa 1870
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A fine Louis XVI Style gilt bronze and Pietre Dure mounted ebonised writing table, retailed by Edwards & Roberts.
French, circa 1870.
The drawer edge stamped 'Edwards & Roberts'.
This Fine ebonised writing table has a three-quarter galleried superstructure with cavetto moulding above three cupboards, each with a panel door inset with Fine pietre dure panels of vases issuing flowers. The lower part of the table has a pullout / pull-out writing slide with a dark blue leather writing surface, above a long drawer centred by a tablet mounted with a foliate pietre dure panel. The table is raised on tapering square section legs united by an 'X'-frame stretcher centred by a gilt bronze vase.
The beautiful Florentine pietre dure panels are inlaid in high relief with shaded agates marble, and semi-precious stones. The combination of Fine gilt bronze mounts on an ebonised ground enriched with Fine pietre dure inlay indicates the work of one of the best Parisian ébénistes of the period.
Edwards & Roberts, was one of the principal London companies working in the nineteenth century in the taste of the late Eighteenth Century. They started business in 1845 and by 1854 were trading as 'Edwards & Roberts, 21 Wardour Street, Antique and Modern Cabinet Makers and Importers of Ancient Furniture'.
Wardour Street became an important furniture retailing area in the second half of the 19th century. Contemporary documents note '... a fine and complete library...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Agate, Bronze
French 19th Century Louis XVI St. Mahogany, Kingwood and Ormolu Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An elegant French 19th century Louis XVI st. mahogany, kingwood and ormolu kidney shaped writing desk. The desk is raised by slender circular tapered fluted legs with fine foliate to...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
20th Century, France Bureau Plat in the antique Louis Quinze Style Exotic Veneer
Located in Berlin, DE
Light and dark exotic veneer, on the four-sided passively curved zest base on high, elegantly curved squares. Slightly overlaid tabletop with profiled decorated bronze lining and gold-embossed leather insert. Decorative perforated rocaille appliqués and decorative moldings...
Category
20th Century French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Antique Walnut and Marquetry Writing Desk
Located in London, GB
This elegant writing desk was created in France in the late 18th century, during the reign of King Louis XVI (1774-1792). The desk is designed in a refined neoclassical style which w...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
$10,432 Sale Price
20% Off
French 19th Century Louis XVI St. Mahogany Side Table/Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A lovely French 19th century Louis XVI st. Mahogany side table/desk. The kidney shaped Table à Écrire is raised by elegantly curved supports connected with a fine stretcher below the...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
French Marble Top Writing Table, Tooled-Leather Writing Surface, on Casters
Located in Montreal, Quebec
French Marble-Top Writing Table on Casters, Pull-Out Drawer, Gilt Tooled-Leather Writing Surface above the drawer, lower storage shelf.
Versatile in its design and size, beautiful w...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble
Louis XVI-Style Ormolu Mounted Mahogany Bureau Plat
Located in Dallas, TX
a Louis XVI-style ormolu mounted mahogany bureau plat / desk with rectangular blue-grey leather inset top (new / recently installed) and brass mounted molded edge above three drawers...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Decorative French Amboyna and Gilt Bronze Center Table
Located in London, GB
A Library Centre Table in the Louis XVI Manner
Constructed in amboyna, with purpleheart banding with gilt bronze mounts; of elliptical form, with gently everted angles; rising from ...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
20th Century imperial Bureau Plat / Desk in the Style of Louis XVI
Located in Berlin, DE
Exotic veneer on solid oak and wood. Extremely finely chased and rich bronze applications. Rectangular body. A hand painted picture badge on the front and side view. Gilded bronze de...
Category
20th Century French Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French 19th Century Louis XVI Style Desk, Signed 'Escalier de Cristal, Paris'
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A high quality French 19th century Louis XVI st. tulipwood, kingwood and ormolu desk, signed 'Escalier de Cristal, Paris, circa 1880. The desk is raised by four square tapered legs w...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
Louis XVI Style Mahogany Bureau Plat
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
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...
Category
1870s French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French 19th Century Louis XVI Style Petite Writing Desk
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
An ingenious leather-topped mahogany writing desk with hidden extensions on each side to add occasional surface area. The leaves on the sides are a matcha green leather framed by gol...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Fine Louis XVI Mahogany Leather-Top Table Attributed to Canabas
By Joseph Canabas
Located in Sheffield, MA
A Fine Louis XVI Mahogany
Leather Top Table
Attributed to Canabas
Joseph Canabas maitre 1766
Height 28 in. Width 27 in. Depth 17 in.
Tab84
Category
Late 18th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
French 19th Century Green Satinwood Marquetry Table with Leather Top
Located in London, GB
Constructed in satinwood, with extensive usage of green stained sycamore, harewood, bois Violette, and well cut floral marquetry, the freestanding table rises from bronze capped cylindrical tapered legs, with vertical inlays; the apron, with a running motif of inlaid circles, containing a single mahogany lined single drawer with further bronze highlight: the top is of oblong form with bowed ends, enclosing a tooled hide, with floral marquetry end panels, enclosed by a bronze angle...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather, Satinwood, Sycamore
Louis XVI Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Bureau Plat
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
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 ...
Category
19th Century French Antique Louis XVI Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Ormolu
Louis Xvi desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a broad range of unique Louis XVI 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 XVI desks and writing tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy 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 Maison Jansen, John Vesey, Paul Sormani, and A.M.E Fournier. 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 $956 and tops out at $230,146 while the average work can sell for $8,500.
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