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.
John Widdicomb Louis XV Fruitwood & Leather Top Writing Desk with Pull-Out Side
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Condition: Original Vintage Conditon This John Widdicomb writing desk is an elegant American interpretation of the Louis XV style, crafted...
Brass
Thomasville French Provincial Carved Walnut Secretary Desk With Bookcase Hutch
By Thomasville
Located in South Bend, IN
An exceptional French Provincial Louis XV style secretary desk with bookcase hutch By Thomasville USA, Circa 1980s Carved walnut, with original brass hardware. Measures: 36"W x 1...
Brass
Venetian Louis XV Walnut Bureau Secretaire
Located in Vo', Veneto
Shaped Venetian Bureau Secretaire in Walnut Wood Type: Walnut and walnut burl Period: Mid 1700s Origin: Venice - Veneto Dimensions: Centimeters Hei...
Nutwood
Vintage Italian Walnut Burl Louis XV Bombay Style Serpentine Writing Desk VGC
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Hand-made in Italy, circa 1950s or 60s, this gorgeous 5-drawer Louis XV or Bombay style desk in Italian walnut burl with antiqued brass hardware. This desk has been in my collections...
Brass
Baker Furniture French Provincial Louis XV Pink Lacquered Writing Desk
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous French Provincial Louis XV style writing desk By Baker Furniture, "Milling Road" Collection USA, Circa 1960s Pink lacquered cherry wood, with original brass hardware. M...
Brass
Baker Furniture Style Antique French Provincial Secretary Desk, Circa 1890s
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous petite French Provincial Louis XV style drop front writing desk or secretary desk In the manner of Baker Furniture By Edinburg Cabinet Co. USA, Circa 1890s Beautiful c...
Brass
A Mid Twentieth Century Black Lacquered Louis XV Style Desk
Located in Winnetka, IL
A fine Louis XV style writing desk (possibly manufactured by high-end manufacturer Interior Crafts Featuring a high-gloss black lacquered finish. The shaped, serpentine top is contou...
Brass
Louis XV-style Cylindrical "bureau / Bonheur Du Jour" Desk
Located in Beaune, FR
A charming little lady’s desk, a “bonheur du jour,” or a cylinder desk featuring atmospheric burl wood, marquetry, and bronze. In the Louis XV/Napoleon III style, this small desk is ...
Wood
Louis XV Style, Executive Desk, Marquetry, Leather, Bronze, France, 19th/20th c.
Located in Stamford, CT
Louis XV Style, Bureau Plat or Executive Desk, Marquetry, Leather, Bronze, France, late 19th or early 20th Century An elegant French-style bureau plat featuring intricate floral mar...
Bronze
French Writing Desk Marquetry Inlay Louis XV Revival
Located in Potters Bar, GB
Elegant French Louis XV style writing desk with extensive floral marquetry Shaped top decorated with trailing flowers and leaves in contrasting woods Serpentine front fitted with fiv...
Wood
Baker Furniture French Provincial Louis XV Carved Walnut Secretary Desk
Located in South Bend, IN
A gorgeous French Provincial Louis XV style bureau with drop front secretary desk and bookcase hutch top By Baker Furniture USA, Circa 1980s Carved walnut, with original brass har...
Brass
Sligh Furniture French Provincial Fruitwood Bureau Plat Desk, Circa 1960s
Located in South Bend, IN
An exceptional French Provincial Louis XV style bureau plat writing desk By Sligh Furniture USA, Circa 1960s Carved fruitwood, with embossed olive green leather top, and original ...
Brass
Antique Louis XV Provincial style Fruitwood desk
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Antique Louis XV provincial style fruit wood desk, 19th century. With a 3 board top, 3 frieze drawers, resting on cabriole legs. Two outer drawers with hand dove tailed construction....
Brass
Louis XV Style Marquetry Desk with Leather Top, Circa 1850s
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
French Louis XV style Marquetry desk with embossed leather top.
Wood
Antique Louis XV Style Inlaid Bureau Plat Writing Desk
Located in Chicago, IL
Antique Louis XV Style Kingwood Inlaid Bureau Plat Writing Desk with Bronze Ormolu & Leather Top Elegant early 20th-century Louis XV style bureau plat writing desk featuring kin...
Leather
French 19th-Century Louis XV Style Figural Gilt-Bronze Mounted Bureau-Plat Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Palatial French 19th-Century Louis XV style figural gilt bronze mounted tulipwood marquetry three-drawer bureau-plat cartonnier with Dual clock-works by Lenoir, Paris, surmounted wit...
Ormolu
Sloping Desk, Louis XV Style, Precious Wood Veneer, 19th Century
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Office of slope, Louis XV style, veneer of precious wood, 19th century, Napoleon III. Measures: H 93cm, L 65cm, P 43cm. Contact us before ordering to confirm product availability.
Wood
Vintage French Regency Chinoiserie Writing Desk by Baker, 1980s
Located in Toluca Ter, CA
Vintage Louis XV style Chinoiserie writing desk or vanity by Baker in cinnabar lacquer with hand-painted gilt depicting floral and garden scenery, made in the USA c. 1980s. As part ...
Brass
Antique Dutch Louis XV Mahogany Executive Desk, Circa Late 19th Century
Located in South Bend, IN
A stunning Louis XV or Chippendale style executive or writing desk Netherlands, Circa Late 19th Century Carved mahogany, with floral vine satinwood marquetry, ball-and-claw feet, a...
Brass
French Desk Bureau A Cylinder Roll Top Roi Louis XV
Located in Potters Bar, GB
A very decorative French Louis XV style bureau à cylindre, finished in richly figured mahogany veneers and mounted throughout with extensive ormolu bronze mounts Bought from a dealer...
Ormolu
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...
Walnut
20th Century French Louis XV Inlaid Marble and Ormolu Bombe Commode
Located in Dallas, TX
Vintage French Louis XVI style commode features shaped Italian green marble-top surmounting two-drawer chest in bombe form having book matched inlay with cast bronze mounts and raise...
Marble, Bronze
Early 20th C. Louis XV Marquetry Inlaid Mahogany Galleried Slant Front Desk
Located in Germantown, MD
Early 20th Century Louis XV Style Marquetry Inlaid Mahogany Galleried Slant Front Desk. Measures 29" in width, 18" in depth and 37" in height. Knee clearance is 28.25" open and 24" c...
Metal
$2,389Sale Price|20% Off
French Scriban desk, Donkey desk, Secretary -Louis XV Period - France 18th
Located in Beuzevillette, FR
Magnificent donkey back desk, sloping desk from the Louis XV period from the 18th century. It opens with a flap which reveals 4 interior drawers, 1 shelf and 2 lockers as well as a s...
Bronze
Large Antique French Louis XV Bureau Plat Desk After Charles Cressent
Located in New York, NY
Monumental antique bureau plat (desk) in the French Louis XV style after the original design by Charles Cressent (1685-1768), 80 by 38 by 32.5 inches, finely crafted with kingwood an...
Bronze
French 19th Century Marquetry Bureau de Dame
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A fine quality 19th Century Louis XV style Marquetry inlaid bureau de dame, having wonderfully detailed scenes to the drawer fronts and cylinder, the sides and reverse having foliate...
Kingwood
Louis XV Style Writing Desk, Gilt-Bronze Mounted, Circa 1900, France
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Fine Louis XV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Walnut and Bois Satiné Parquetry Writing Desk, ‘Bureau en Rognon’, By Maison Millet, Paris. The curved cartonnier with five drawers around ...
Bronze
Outstanding Louis XV-Style Mahogany Bureau Plat
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
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...
Ormolu
Antique Louis XV Style Country French Slant Front Desk Circa. 1800
Located in Fulton, CA
Antique Country French secretary desk with marquetry detail. Dating from the early 1800's in the Louis XV or French Country style. Tooled leather writing surface. Marquetry medallion...
Wood
French Bureau Plat Marquetry Leather Top Desk with Orig. Ormolu Mounts, C. 1770
Located in Charleston, SC
French bureau plat marquetry leather top three drawer desk with hearing bone inlays, three opposite side faux drawers, original floral ormolu mounts, brass escutcheons, brass knobs, ...
Ormolu, Brass
Large 19th Century French Louis XV Style Bureau Plat Partners Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
A very large French Louis XV style bureau plat partners desk from the late 19th century with an old black leather tooled top. This desk is beautifully veneered in kingwood and rosewo...
Bronze
Bureau De Roi - French Roll Top Desk Louis XV Monumental
Located in Potters Bar, GB
Stunning French Louis XV style desk - or Bureau Du Roi - hand crafted from kingwood This is based on the original as found in the Palace of Versaille and is an astounding work Hopefu...
Kingwood
Louis XV Slant Front Desk, 18th Century French Marquetry, Circa 1760
Located in Winter Park, FL
An 18th Century Louis XV French marquetry bureau de pente, or slant front desk, made with veneers of mahogany, rosewood and tulipwood with oak as a secondary wood. Slant front opens ...
Brass
19th Century Transforming Table, Ladies Desk, Secretaire, Walnut, France ca 1860
Located in Greven, DE
Small antique secretary, lady's desk France Walnut around 1860 Dimensions: H x W x D: 90 x 59 x 53 cm Description: Quite extraordinary small piece of transforming furniture...
Walnut
Antique French Louis XV Cylinder Marquetry & Ormolu Bureau Writing Desk 1880
Located in Portland, OR
A very elegant antique French Louis XV style inlaid Kingwood cylinder bureau, desk, circa 1870. This very fine serpentine or bombe shaped desk is finely inlaid with parquetry panels ...
Ormolu
Louis XV Style Dore Bronze Mounted Boulle Marquetry Secretary Desk or Cabinet
Located in New York, NY
A gorgeous Louis XV style French dore bronze mounted Boulle Marquetry secretary desk or cabinet. With a cylindrical form in ebonized veneer a...
Bronze
Antique Dutch Marquetry Slant Top Desk
Located in Laguna Beach, CA
Dutch marquetry bombe form slant top desk, late 19th century. With exquisite floral marquetry throughout, stepped interior and hand dovetailed drawer construction.
Brass
Large Louis XV style flat desk, marquetry and gilt bronze, 19th century work
Located in NICE, FR
Large Louis XV-style 19th-century flat desk in solid beech veneer with inlay, opening with three drawers including a central drawer in the waistband with floral bronze fittings and r...
Bronze
19th Century French Kingwood Writing Desk Bureau Plat
Located in Essex, MA
19th century French kingwood Bureau plat writing desk. Beautiful Louis XV Form. Lacquered Bronze Mounts are original. Grand proportion. Embossed Plum leather.
Bronze
French Louis XV Style Carved Walnut Partners Desk with Leather Top..
Located in Vero Beach, FL
French Louis XV Style Carved Walnut Partners Desk with Leather Top. Impressive 19th Century walnut partners desk of exceptional quality. This beautiful desk features detailed carved...
Leather, Walnut
20th Century Wood Italian Louis XV Style Writing Desk, 1950s
Located in Vicoforte, Piedmont
Italian writing desk from the mid-20th century. Curved piece of furniture in Louis XV style, veneered in poplar burl and fruitwood, of beautiful line and pleasant furnishings. Desk f...
Wood
$7,600Sale Price|20% Off
19th Century Louis XV Style Burlwood Ormolu Mounted Lady’s Desk
Located in Vero Beach, FL
French 19th century Louis XV style Burlwood Ormolu Mounted Lady’s Desk. Elegant French burlwood and ormolu mounted Lady’s cylinder desk. The single door cabinet is raised by slend...
Ormolu
Louis XV Style Writing Desk in Oyster Burl, Italy, Circa 1960s
Located in Peabody, MA
An Italian oyster burl writing deskin the manner of Louis XV, ca. 1960s. Features fleur-de-lis papered drawers and graceful cabriole legs. The desk top surface measures 48.25" wide ...
Burl
Louis XV Style Chinoiserie Slant-Top Desk
Located in Pembroke, MA
A stunning, petite French slant-top desk or "bureau de pente" in the Louis XV style, turquoise and gold polychromed with Chinoiserie detailing, and red under-body. Desk opens to rev...
Bronze
Antique Louis XV Bureau Plat or Leather Top Desk
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Impressive 18th Century Louis XV bureau plat handcrafted in classic style with mahogany and kingwood, featuring the original tooled oxblood leather top on a brass bound case with thr...
Brass
Enamel Decorated French Louis Revival Ormolu Mounted Bureau Desk Table Console
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Enamel decorated French Louis Revival Ormolu mounted Bureau plat partner desk table console mint Both sides symmetrical, yet one side has ability to open.
Brass
Late 20th Century Auffray & Co French Walnut Partners Desk - Tooled Leather Top
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Late 20th Century Auffray & Co. French Walnut Partners Desk With Tooled Leather Top This elegant Vintage Auffray & Co. French Walnut Partners Desk captures the refined charm...
Leather, Walnut
18th Century Double Sided Desk Louis XV Walnut Attributed J.F Hache
By Jean-Francois Hache
Located in Marseille, FR
Double sided desk Louis XV walnut attributed to J.F Hache (1730-1796) dating from the eighteenth century. Very good state of conservation despite traces of restoration on the drawers...
Walnut
Louis XV Style Walnut Secretary by Baker Furniture
Located in Atlanta, GA
20th Century Collector's Edition secretary cabinet by Baker Furniture Company in the French style of Louis XV. The secretary is made of upper and lower cabinets made of carved walnut with working locks and keys. The upper cabinet features an arching crown centered by a heavily carved cartouche. The beautifully paneled doors with brass decorative hardware open to reveal a shallow finished interior having a pair of adjustable display shelves. The abattant, or slant front desk, of the lower cabinet hinges...
Walnut
20th Century writing Desk Louis XV Piano-Black Bureau Plat
Located in Berlin, DE
20th Century writing Desk Louis XV Piano-Black Bureau Plat Majestic bureau plat in Louis XV style. Piano black polished veneer on solid Pinewood with r...
Bronze
$5,320Sale Price|33% Off
Italian Burl Walnut Venetian Rococo Slant Front Desk, 18th Century
Located in CH
Italian Burl Walnut Venetian Rococo Slant-Front Desk Italy, 18th Century (circa 1750) An elegant Venetian Rococo bureau veneered in walnut and burl walnut, characteristic of the mi...
Walnut
French Bureau Plat of Ebony and Brass Inlay with Ormolu Mounts, 19th Century
Located in London, GB
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...
Brass, Ormolu
$6,800Sale Price|20% Off
18th Century Italian Baroque Inlaid Walnut Drop-Front Secretary Desk / Commode
Located in Miami, FL
18th Century Italian Baroque Inlaid Walnut Drop-Front Secretary Desk / Commode, Antique Italian Inlaid Walnut Bureau, Baroque Drop-Front Secretary, A traditional 18th-century Itali...
Brass
A French Louis XV Style Rosewood Veneered Bureau en Pente
Located in San Francisco, CA
a good French Rococo Style Fall Front Desk having a rectangular top with an undulating herring bone-veneered slant front, opening to reveal a hand-tooled leather writing surface belo...
Rosewood
$7,200Sale Price|44% Off
Louis XV Style Bombe Secretary Inlaid Marquetry, Signed, Henry Dasson.
Located in Vero Beach, FL
Louis XV style bombe secretary inlaid marquetry, Ormolu Mounted. Signed Henry Dasson. This 19th century bombe tulipwood secretary is built with superior craftsmanship and intricate ...
Bronze
French Louis XV St. Tulipwood, Kingwood, And Ormolu Desk, Signed By Krieger
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A handsome French late 19th century Louis XV st. Tulipwood, Kingwood, and Ormolu desk, signed by Krieger. The Bureau Plat desk is raised by elongated cabriole legs with fine pierced ...
Ormolu
19th Century French Louis XV Style Secretaire
Located in Belmont, MA
Exquisite French Louis XV style secrétaire with wave shaped front adorned with beautiful flower marquetry made of kingwood, rosewood and boxwood veneer, drop front writing desk with ...
Rosewood
$100,527Sale Price|30% Off
Louis XV Style Lacquered Wood Flat Desk by A.E. Beurdeley, France, Circa 1890
By Alfred Emmanuel Louis Beurdeley
Located in PARIS, FR
Stamped twice A Beurdeley a Paris on the crosspieces. Elegant Louis XV style double-side desk in lacquered wood and gilded bronze. It is adorned on all sides, in foliated bronze car...
Bronze
$7,869Sale Price|50% Off
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Style Rosewood Inlaid Ladies Secretary
Located in Sofia, BG
Small ladies secretary animated form of veneer wood and rosewood marquetry, opening to two drawers in step. Bronze ornaments, pull handles the removab...
Rosewood
Majestic Desk Louis XV Style - France
By Mice di rugiano domenico e c. s.n.c.
Located in Cantù, IT
Majestic Desk Style Louis XV France - 1970 Private Collection Domenico
Bronze