Skip to main content

Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

ROCOCO STYLE

Rococo was an aesthetic movement in the fine and decorative arts in the 18th century that found its inspiration in nature and fostered an overall lightness and delicacy of form, construction and ornament in interior design. Rococo furniture, while greatly influenced by trends in Italy and Germany, is often called Louis XV style — the movement having reached its best expression during that sybaritic French king’s reign.

The term “rococo” is thought to be a portmanteau of the French words rocaille and coquilles — “rock” and “shells” — organic motifs frequently used in architecture and design of the style.

When it comes to authentic Rococo furniture's characteristics, it is above all sensuous and social. The furniture of earlier eras in Europe had been heavy in every sense; the Rococo period saw the appearance of light-framed upholstered armchairs, side chairs and occasional tables that could easily be moved to form conversational circles.

The signal detail of Rococo furniture design is the gently curved cabriole, or S-shaped chair-, table-, and cabinet-leg. It imitates the bend of a tree limb or a flower stem. In a further reference to nature, furnishings were often asymmetrical and painted white, or in soft, pastel shades. Rococo has become a timeless style, and as the furniture pieces presented on 1stDibs demonstrate, its playful, sculptural forms can provide visual excitement to contemporary, clean-lined spaces.

9
to
17
9
9
9
864
439
291
163
158
107
90
75
50
34
32
28
27
25
17
6
5
5
3
1
1
Height
to
Width
to
Depth
to
9
3
3
3
3
9
5
4
4
1
Item Ships From: Europe
Style: Rococo
19th Century Rococo Soft Blue Desk
Located in Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Period Rococo desk from Dalarna Sweden. With decorative curved legs and one single drawer. Repainted in soft light blue.
Category

19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Fine and rather unusual 18th century Swedish rococo desk in it's original finish with one lid to the interior compartment. Ca 1760 Sweden
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

Vintage Freestanding Desk, 1950s
Located in ŚWINOUJŚCIE, 32
Beautiful antique desk in the style of Louis XV. Rich decorations, ribbed rivets. The corner decorated with plant motifs. Two-sided desk, which...
Category

Mid-20th Century Danish Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany

French Rococo Style Bureau Plat
Located in Kastrup, DK
An elegant French rococo style bureau plat writing desk made in walnut with ormolu accents. Features a top with a tooled leather writing-surface w...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

18th Century Swedish Antique Rustic Rococo Desk/ Table with Original Paint
Located in Boden, SE
18th century Swedish Antique Rustic provincial rococo table/ desk from Boden Norrbotten, Northern Sweden. A very rustic rococo desk with incred...
Category

Mid-18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

18th Century French Rococo Library Table
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Exceptional 18th century Rococo centre library table in it's original color with great finish. Incredibly rare piece due to the length and condition. Ca 1750 France.
Category

18th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

French 18th Century Louis XV Bureau Plat, Writing Desk
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
An imposing Louis XV ebonized writing table with finely chased gilt bronze mounts. The stepped moulded rectangular top inset with the original gilt-tooled leather above three frieze drawers with elaborate ormolu handles and escutcheons, the reverse conformingly organized with three simulated drawers, allowing this bureau plat to be freestanding, the cabriole legs with sabot feet headed by female masks. The iconic Coco chancel lived with a Rococo writing desk...
Category

Mid-18th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Rococo Style Side Table with Porcelain Plaques
Located in London, GB
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...
Category

19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu, Bronze

Fine 18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Fine 18th century Swedish Rococo desk / console table with one drawer and in Its original colour. Ca 1770 Sweden.
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

Related Items
Louis XVI style French bureau plat after Zweiner
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A fine quality, elegant late 19th century French Louis XV style Kingwood serpentine shaped bureau plat, having an inset suede covered writing surface, a single frieze drawer, wonderful gilded ormolu mounts with entwined leaf decoration, the central mount representing a military helmet and flag. Raised on elegant cabriole legs terminating in scrolling ormolu feet. Attributed to Joseph- Emmanuel Zweiner. Joseph-Emmanuel Zwiener (b. 1849) was a preeminent cabinetmaker (ébéniste) of German descent, who became one of the most famous furniture...
Category

Late 19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ormolu

Louis XVI style French bureau plat after Zweiner
Louis XVI style French bureau plat after Zweiner
H 29.14 in W 34.26 in D 22.84 in
18th Century Spanish Oak and Walnut Library Table
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Handsome 18th century Spanish colonial library table or refectory table fronted by a single drawer. The carved oak case is supported by turned b...
Category

18th Century European Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak, Walnut

French Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Marquetry Bureau Plat
Located in Forney, TX
French Perfection! A most impressive and very fine quality vintage Louis XV style ormolu mounted marquetry inlaid bureau plat. Exquisitely hand-crafted in the manner of important...
Category

20th Century Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze, Ormolu

French 19th Century Empire Desk
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A classically designed Empire style mahogany desk from France. This desk has a new inset green leather top embossed with brass tooling and banding around the perimeter. A more worn l...
Category

19th Century French Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

French 19th Century Empire Desk
French 19th Century Empire Desk
H 29.5 in W 57 in D 29.5 in
18th Century George II Mahogany Kneehole Desk
Located in Dublin 8, IE
18th century George II mahogany knee hole desk, with one long drawer above central cupboard door flanked by six short drawers raised on bracket...
Category

18th Century Irish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany

Antique George III Mahogany Library Writing Table Desk, 18th Century
Located in London, GB
This is a fine antique George III mahogany and marquetry library table, circa 1780 in date. The table features beautiful floral and scrolling foliate marquetry throughout, with flame mahogany marquetry panels and gonçalo alves crossbanding. The rectangular top is fitted with the original emerald green gold tooled inset leather writing surface above a pair of crossbanded frieze drawers, raised on square tapered legs. It is freestanding, finished on all sides, so that it can stand freely in the middle of a room, making it extremely suitable for a large home or office. Complete with original brass handles, working locks and keys. THE BOTANICAL NAME FOR THE MAHOGANY THIS ITEM IS MADE OF IS SWIETENIA MACROPHYLLA AND THIS TYPE OF MAHOGANY IS NOT SUBJECT TO CITES REGULATION. Condition: In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished and waxed in our workshops, and only shows minor signs of wear commensurate with age and use. Please see photos for confirmation. Dimensions in cm: Height 76 x width 144 x depth 84 Dimensions in inches: Height 29.9 x width 56.7 x depth 33.1 Marquetry is decorative artistry where pieces of material (such as wood, pewter or brass silver) of different colours are inserted into surface wood veneer to form intricate patterns such as scrolls or flowers. The technique of veneered marquetry had its inspiration in 16th century Florence. Marquetry elaborated upon Florentine techniques of inlaying solid marble slabs with designs formed of fitted marbles, jaspers and semi-precious stones. This work, called opere di commessi, has medieval parallels in Central Italian "Cosmati"-work of inlaid marble floors, altars and columns. The technique is known in English as pietra dura, for the "hardstones" used: onyx, jasper, cornelian, lapis lazuli and colored marbles. In Florence, the Chapel of the Medici at San Lorenzo is completely covered in a colored marble facing using this demanding jig-sawn technique. Techniques of wood marquetry were developed in Antwerp and other Flemish centers of luxury cabinet-making during the early 16th century. The craft was imported full-blown to France after the mid-seventeenth century, to create furniture of unprecedented luxury being made at the royal manufactory of the Gobelins, charged with providing furnishings to decorate Versailles and the other royal residences of Louis XIV. Early masters of French marquetry were the Fleming Pierre Golle and his son-in-law, André-Charles Boulle, who founded a dynasty of royal and Parisian cabinet-makers (ébénistes) and gave his name to a technique of marquetry employing brass with pewter in arabesque or intricately foliate designs. Flame mahogany Thomas Sheraton - 18th century furniture designer, once characterized mahogany as "best suited to furniture where strength is demanded as well as a wood that works...
Category

1780s English Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Mahogany

A Fine 19th Century Mahogany Pedestal Desk
Located in London, by appointment only
A very fine and good looking pedestal desk, the leather top with brass bound edges, above a bank of four drawers on each side with one central drawer, the back with dummy drawers. Th...
Category

Late 19th Century English Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Antique Genuine Swedish Rustic Original Blue Writing Desk Table with Drawers
Located in Kramfors, SE
Antique genuine pine writing desk from Sweden with blue paint. The table is in untouched original condition with the original blue toned paint. Dated 1850 and monogrammed in black. T...
Category

Mid-19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

19th Century English Pine Desk
Located in Nashville, TN
This is a great little English pine Desk/Side Table with a single drawer. The warm color of the English pine makes for a great transitional piece. #689
Category

1880s English Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Hardwood

19th Century English Pine Desk
19th Century English Pine Desk
H 30 in W 34 in D 20 in
French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Leather Top Writing Desk
Located in Hopewell, NJ
An outstanding French Louis XV style writing desk or bureau plat desk with bronze trim and ornate ormolu mounts and embossed leather top. The desk is finished on all sides and could ...
Category

1940s French Vintage Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Walnut

1950s George Nelson Swag Leg Desk
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Original Swag leg desk, designed by George Nelson for Herman Miller. Colorful cubbyholes and molded drawers allow for a tidy and streamlined workspace. O...
Category

1950s American Vintage Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

1950s George Nelson Swag Leg Desk
1950s George Nelson Swag Leg Desk
H 34 in W 39 in D 28.5 in
1950s Desk Corner
Located in Milano, IT
Writing corner, with planked wall with up-and-down lamp, worktop with day compartments and drawers, mahogany veneer wood and skai upholstery.
Category

1950s Italian Vintage Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Mahogany

1950s Desk Corner
1950s Desk Corner
H 91.34 in W 63 in D 51.19 in
Previously Available Items
Italian Rococo Style Venetian Painted Folding Writing Desk
Located in Firenze, IT
This lovely petite Italian Louis XV style slant-top writing desk is entirely decorated with hand painted lacquer featuring genre scenes, floral paintings and putto so fashionable during the Venetian rococo period. The writing table - wonderfully proportioned and with convenient size – rests on slender cabriole legs providing a sturdy base for this piece of furniture. The curvaceousness of the legs continues throughout the desk, from the subtly contoured sides to the highly sinuous apron on all sides. Set within the apron is one drawer which has a functioning key and lock with a foliate escutcheon. The fold-down writing surface, opens to reveal two small drawers with round knob and an open storage compartment in the center. This Louis XV style folding desk also called "bureau de pente" or ladies desk boasts a wonderful paintings throughout, the green lacquer surface is decorated with romantic scene de genre paintings, floral motif and landscapes with cattle set in an ocher and gold yellow rocaille cartouches. The inside is painted in brick red color with flower arrangements centering the fold down writing surface which are also repeated on the drawers. A graceful and functional high quality folding writing table...
Category

Early 20th Century Italian Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Antique Swedish Pine Country Rococo Desk
Located in Kramfors, SE
Antique Swedish rococo desk made during the late 1700s in painted pine. The desk has traces of the distressed original first paint. The legs are typical rococo with a large elegant c...
Category

Late 18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

Antique Swedish Pine Country Rococo Desk
Antique Swedish Pine Country Rococo Desk
H 31.11 in W 46.86 in D 27.17 in
Provincial Rococo Writing Desk
Located in Tetbury, Gloucestershire
Provincial Rococo writing desk. With a good large flat surface below a single drawer. The whole stands on cabriolet legs. Repainted.
Category

19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Provincial Rococo Writing Desk
Provincial Rococo Writing Desk
H 30.71 in W 45.28 in D 31.11 in
18th Century Rococo Slant Front Desk
Located in Tetbury, Gloucestershire
18th Century slant front Rococo desk. With an attractive fall front desk opening to five compartments. Below are three further drawers. Repa...
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

18th Century Rococo Slant Front Desk
18th Century Rococo Slant Front Desk
H 37.41 in W 31.11 in D 18.51 in
18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Fine and unusually small 18th century Swedish Rococo desk with one drawer and gilt bronze mounts, circa 1770, Stockholm, Sweden.
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
H 29.53 in W 32.68 in D 21.26 in
Fine 18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Fine 18th century Swedish black painted Rococo desk with four drawers and great proportions and shape. Ca 1760 Sweden.
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

Fine 18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Fine 18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
H 30.71 in W 56.7 in D 33.08 in
18th Century Swedish Rococo Table/ Desk with Originalpaint
Located in Boden, SE
18th century Swedish rococo table/ desk from Boden Norrbotten, Northern Sweden. Handscraped to its originalcolor. An early rococo table / desk w...
Category

Late 18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

18th Century Swedish Fall Front Bureau with Small Interior Compartments
Located in London, GB
Late Circa 18th century Swedish fall front bureau. The interior comprises of small drawers and compartments over three long deep drawers. The bureau comes in one piece and features d...
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Swedish 19th Century Rococo Style Desk with Canvas Top
Located in Kastrup, DK
Elegant desk made of black painted pine. Inlaid canvas top and two drawers raised on cabriole legs. Rococo style, Sweden 1820-1840. Ample legroom with 63 cm / 24,8 inches from t...
Category

Early 19th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Canvas, Pine

18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
Located in Mjöhult, SE
Fine provincial 18th century Rococo desk in it's original finish with one drawer and gallery containing six drawers and a middle door, ca 1770 Sweden. Measurements: Total height is...
Category

18th Century European Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
18th Century Swedish Rococo Desk
H 38.19 in W 44.49 in D 27.56 in
Swedish Period Rocco Desk
Located in Tetbury, Gloucestershire
A period Rococo desk with cabriolet legs and decorative carved stretcher. This piece has one single drawer made later in the 1900s, and has been repainted.
Category

18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Swedish Period Rocco Desk
Swedish Period Rocco Desk
H 29.93 in W 38.19 in D 22.84 in
Genuine Swedish Rococo Table with Candle Trays
Located in Kramfors, SE
Rococo table of the period during the late 1700s from Sweden. The table has a profiled rim with curved legs and extendable candle trays on the short ends. ...
Category

Late 18th Century Swedish Antique Rococo Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Pine

Genuine Swedish Rococo Table with Candle Trays
Genuine Swedish Rococo Table with Candle Trays
H 29.34 in W 33.08 in D 18.12 in

Rococo desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Rococo 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, seating and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with wood, metal and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Rococo desks and writing tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, Italy, and France 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 and Hendrix Allardyce. 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 $550 and tops out at $95,959 while the average work can sell for $5,948.

Recently Viewed

View All