As opposed to the styles that would follow from the other 18th-century French kings, Louis XV and Louis XVI, antique Louis XIV furniture is rigid and imposing. It expresses opulence — even its armchairs, with their upright backs, straight legs and lavish ornamentation, look like thrones. Authentic Louis XIV sofas, a then newly emerging iteration of seating, are fully upholstered and often feature decoratively carved frames of walnut, chestnut or oak.
When French King Louis XIV established his royal court at Versailles in 1682, he transformed what was once a hunting lodge into a palace that declared his wealth and power through its design. Until his death in 1715, he reigned with a spirit of excess and absolute political dominance. The “Sun King,” as he called himself, believed that France revolved around him as planets do the sun. Louis XIV adopted the sun as his emblem, decorating the grounds with symbols of the sun and Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. As he stated, “There is nothing that indicates more clearly the magnificence of great princes than their superb palaces and their precious furniture.” He was a child when he became king in 1643, only shaping his style after he became absolute monarch in 1661.
Reflecting trends in French Baroque art, Louis XIV furniture characteristics included exuberant decoration. There were gilded bronze details including shells, suns, grotesques, lions and classical references like acanthus leaves. The years of growth in the country’s manufacturing, such as the tapestries and cabinets made at Gobelins, led to design innovations. The commode replaced the chest as a storage device, with drawers and a surface that could double as a desk.
The materials were luxurious, such as the popular tortoiseshell veneer technique that leading cabinetmaker Pierre Golle used in his designs. André-Charles Boulle, who became royal cabinetmaker in 1672, was a masterful artist of marquetry, using inlays of ebony, exotic woods and mother-of-pearl.
Find a collection of antique Louis XIV bedroom furniture, chairs, tables and other pieces on 1stDibs.
Exquisite Louis XVI English Style Expanding Mahogany &.Leather Top Desk
By Theodore Alexander, Maitland Smith, Jonathan Charles
Located in Bensalem, PA
Very nice Maitland Smith desk with expanding sides, authentic leather top and shiny brass detail, feel free to reach out with any questions
Leather
French 19th Century Louis XIV Style Mahogany & Brass Inlay Secretary Boulle Desk
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A fine and rare French 19th century Louis XIV style mahogany and brass inlaid drop-front freestanding secretary desk in the manner of André-Charles Boulle. The slender mahogany body ...
Brass, Bronze
Louis XVI Style French Desk or Bureau Plat
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Impressive 19th century French desk with the original tooled leather top now aged to perfection over a two drawer case decorated with bronze ormolu and inlaid marquetry on elegant ta...
Bronze
French 19th Century Louis XIV St. Ebony, Ormolu, Pewter and Tortoiseshell Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A stunning and rare French 19th century Louis XIV St. ebony, ormolu, pewter, and tortoiseshell Boulle Bureau Mazarin desk. The seven drawers, one door d...
Ormolu, Pewter
$1,800Sale Price|62% Off
Late 19th Century Italian Walnut Burl Inlaid Louis XIV Secretary Drop Leaf Desk
Located in Encinitas, CA
Late 19th Century Italian Walnut Burl Inlaid Louis XIV Secretary Drop Leaf Desk. Trim three-drawer bureau chest featuring secretary drop lid with lock and key revealing small drawers and compartments. Beautiful walnut veneers and solids with rosewood inlaid detail. Handsome hardware, hinges and pulls. Lock and key. Due to the curved shape of the desk and components, some measures are a close approximation. Exterior measures of the desk: 39" W x 20.5" D x 40.75" H 99.1 cm W x 52 cm D x 103.5 cm H Opened drop lid desk...
Walnut
Bureau Mazarin d'époque Louis XIV
Located in PARIS, FR
Bureau Mazarin en marqueterie Boulle. II repose sur huit pieds réunis par deux entretoises en X, montants à pan en décrochement. Plateau marqueté cerclé d'une lingotière en bronze ci...
Bronze
A Louis XIV Style Bureau Plat By Cueunières, Paris, After the Model by Cressent
Located in Brighton, West Sussex
A Louis XIV Style Gilt-Bronze Mounted Mahogany Bureau Plat, By Cueunières, Paris. After the Model by Charles Cressent. Stamped to underside 'L. CUEUNIERES JNE / ÉBÉNISTE' The orig...
Ormolu
Italian 19th Century Louis XIV Style Ebony Desk
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A handsome Italian mid-19th century Louis XIV style ebony desk. The desk is raised by eight square tapered leg with mottled designs and bone inlays of winged figures above foliate designs. The legs are joined by a triple H designed stretcher with a central upholstered footrest...
Ebony
French Louis XIV Style Leather Top Desk with Brass Mounts
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Made in France. A Louis XV style desk with brown tooled leather shaped top and brass banded edge with shell form mounts on the corners. The dark wood frame with lighter wood for the ...
Brass
Diminutive French Louis XIV Style Walnut Writing Table Desk
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Charming 19th century French writing table or desk made in a diminutive scale or ladies bureau plat size. Crafted in the grand Louis XIV taste from walnu...
Brass
Large Gilded Bronze Clock with Louis XIV Figure, 18th Century
By France"
Located in Madrid, ES
Large gilded bronze clock with Louis XIV figure. Mechanism working with a pendulum and original key End 18th century beginning 19th century...
Bronze
$9,600Sale Price|20% Off
H 52 in W 59 in D 29 in
French Louis XVI Style Roll Top Desk in Mahogany and Gilt Bronze
By Jean-Henri Riesener
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
An imposing Louis XVI style roll top desk in beautifully figured mahogany and having finely chased and gilded bronze mounts; the green marble top with a bronze gallery above three lo...
Marble, Bronze
$450,000
H 62.5 in W 82 in D 41 in
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
19th Century Mahogany Chinese Chippendale Desk
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
For sale is a good quality carved Chinese Chippendale style kneehole desk. The top of the desk has an intricately fretted gallery which is in perfect condition. Below this the desk h...
Mahogany
$6,500
H 30.5 in W 48.25 in D 26.75 in
French Louis XVI Style Mahogany Writing Desk W/ Cognac Leather Top
Located in Astoria, NY
A refined early 20th century French Louis XVI style writing desk sourced in Paris and crafted in mahogany, expressing the clarity and symmetry associated with neoclassical design. Th...
Brass
English Mahogany Secretary Desk, 19th Century
Located in Southampton, NY
English Mahogany secretary desk, 19th century Three pieces: Crown, upper drawers and lower cabinet. Lowest draw pulls out as a secretary desk. Measures: 21" deep x 46.5" wide x 80.5"...
Mahogany
French 19th Century Walnut Secretary Desk
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
A wonderful walnut secretary desk from 19th century France. The desk can be separated into two bodies: a lower writing surface, and the upper glass-front cabinet. The top cabinet ha...
Walnut, Leather, Glass
French 19th Century Louis XVI Desk
Located in Stockbridge, GA
This wonderful Louis XVI Desk is made of blond mahogany with a mustard color leather top.
Leather, Mahogany
English Mahogany Leather Top Writing Desk, Circa 1780
Located in Charleston, SC
English mahogany two-drawer leather top writing desk with carved molded edge, original brasses and terminating on chamfered tapered legs, Late 18th century. Desk is finished on all ...
Louis XVI Style Cylinder Desk, Cuban Flamed Mahogany, 1890s
Located in Austin, TX
19th Century cylinder desk from France in the Louis XVI style. This desk has been finished with a lustrous French polish of museum quality. It is made of solid wood construction, pri...
Carrara Marble, Brass
$1,875Sale Price|25% Off
H 28.5 in W 34.5 in D 23 in
19th Century French Provincial Fruitwood Writing Table Desk
Located in Rio Vista, CA
Diminutive size 19th century French provincial writing table or desk. The table is constructed from fruitwood with a warm patina and lovely wood grain patterns. Fronted by a single s...
Fruitwood
19th Century Victorian Carved Mahogany Desk
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
Selling is a top quality, unusual mid-Victorian copy of a Chippendale carved desk. The top drawer of the desk, when opened, reveals a rising writing panel and two lift up panels with...
Mahogany
19th Century Walnut Partners Desk
Located in Savannah, GA
This is a walnut and Kashmir walnut partners desk made in England, circa 1890. The top of the desk is Walnut with 3 shaped pieces of beautiful brown lea...
Walnut
Rare Louis XV French 18th C, Desk "Bureau De Pente" .
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Just in, this French Louis XV Slope Desk "Bureau De Pente" ,in natural Yellow Birch, . This French Provençal desk, also called Secretaire Abattant or f...
Wood
19thC French Kingwood and Marquetry Secrataire a Abattant
Located in Altrincham, GB
19thC French Kingwood and Marquetry Secrataire a Abattant of Bombe Form, 3 Drawers on Splayed Legs all with Ormalu Mounts - 23"w x 16"d x 52"h
Kingwood
Sold
H 31.5 in W 52.25 in D 28 in
French Louis XIV Style Mahogany & Figural Ormolu Leather Top Three-Drawer Desk
Located in Big Flats, NY
***Reduced In-House Delivery Rates - Click on “Ask Seller” to Request a Quote*** French Louis XIV Style Rosewood Inlaid Mahogany & Figural Ormolu Leather Top Three-Drawer Desk 20thC...
Ormolu
Sold
H 50.25 in W 40.5 in D 22.5 in
Antique Louis XIV Kingwood, Ormolu & Burl Ladies Desk with Rear Tower C1890
Located in Big Flats, NY
***Reduced In-House Delivery Rates - Click on “Ask Seller” to Request a Quote*** Antique Louis XIV Kingwood, Ormolu & Burl Ladies Desk with Rear Tower & Writing Slide-Out C1890 Mea...
Ormolu
French 17th Century Desk
Located in Stockbridge, GA
Exceptional desk made of walnut with a wonderful carvings used by the age. The height from the floor to the base of the center drawer is 25''H.
Walnut
Antique desk, Western Europe, around 1900.
Located in Chorzów, PL
Antique desk from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The furniture is in very good condition, after professional renovation. Dimensions: height 79 cm / width 131 cm / depth 7...
Walnut
Sold
H 52.5 in W 31 in D 18 in
Antique French Ebonized & Ormolu Ladies Desk with Porcelain Plaques, circa 1890
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique French ladies desk offers ebonized finish with upper ormolu gallery over double door case having painted porcelain plaque insets ...
Porcelain, Wood
Sold
H 60.5 in W 61.75 in D 39.5 in
Antique French Louis XIV Style Satinwood & Kingwood Writing Desk, Circa 1920
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique French Louis XIV style desk offers satinwood and kingwood construction with shaped top having gilt decorated leather writing surface an...
Kingwood, Satinwood
Sold
H 34.75 in W 25.5 in D 19.5 in
Antique French Louis XIV Ormolu & Inlaid Mahogany Ladies Desk 20th C
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique French Louis XIV ladies desk offers mahogany construction with floral and scrolled foliate satinwood marquetry top having a pierced bronze gallery and surmounting single d...
Ormolu
Mazarin Style Desk in Solid Wood and Floral Marquetry, F419
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Italian desk in the Mazarin style of the XXI century. Solid wood and veneer structure, gilded metal handles and brown leatherette desk pad. The desk is entirely covered with marquetr...
Wood
Louis XIV 17th Century Mazarin Marquetry Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
Louis XIV Marquetry Bureau Mazarin French, late 17th, early 18th century Circa 1690 - 1700 A knee hole desk with a single door flanked on each side by...
Wood
Antique French Louis XIV Vernis Martin Mahogany & Kingwood Ladies Desk, c 1890
By Vernis Martin
Located in Big Flats, NY
An antique French Louis XIV ladies desk offers mahogany and kingwood construction with tower cabinet having carved gadroon cartouche over single door with Vernis Martin painted court...
Metal