What is a bureau plat desk?

A bureau plat is an open French writing desk featuring a flat top, typically lined with leather, and a shallow frieze containing drawers supported by four legs.

What materials are used in Louis Revival bureau plat desks?

These desks are constructed using fine hardwoods and veneers such as kingwood, tulipwood, or rosewood, adorned with parquetry inlay, cast gilt-bronze (ormolu) mounts, and leather writing surfaces.

How do you identify an authentic 19th-century French desk?

Authentic 19th-century pieces feature hand-cut joinery, thick wood veneers, cast bronze mounts with hand-chiselled details, and natural age-related oxidisation on metalwork and untreated timber areas.

How can a bureau plat be styled in a modern interior?

Position the desk centrally in an office or library to allow 360-degree viewing of the mounts and woodwork, balancing its intricate detailing with clean-lined modern lighting and simple wall colours.

How should an antique kingwood and ormolu desk be maintained?

Keep the desk away from direct heat sources and sunlight, dust metal mounts using a soft dry brush, and apply specialist leather conditioner to the writing insert periodically.

for sale €7,605 $8,255

£6,500

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Louis Xv Revival Desk

French Rococo Writing Desk

Id #SA913509

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Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

19th century

For Sale by Regent Antiques

Description

This is a gorgeous antique French Louis Revival gilt bronze mounted kingwood and amaranth bureau plat, Circa 1860 in date.

The shaped top has a decorative gilt bronze border, raised corner cartouches and an inset gold tooled green leather writing surface, above three frieze drawers on one side and dummy drawers on the other.

It is freestanding, has fabulous decorative ormolu handles and mounts including female masks at the shoulders and Bacchic masks to the sides.

It features working locks and keys and three capacious oak lined drawers for all your storage needs.

It is raised on elegant cabriole legs with stunning figural ormolu mounts and lion's paw feet.

This is a truly lovely piece which will display beautifully in any interior.

Condition:

In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 78 x Width 163 x Depth 91

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 5 foot, 4 inches x Depth 3 feet

Kingwood

is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar colour to sapwood.

The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties.

Ormolu - (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'.

The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.

After around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt..

Our reference: A2137

Physical Dimensions

Height

78cm (30.71")

Width

163cm (64.17")

Depth

91cm (35.83")

Declaration

Regent Antiques has dated this Kingwood Bureau Plat Desk to the 19th Century.

Reference Numbers

Sellingantiques Reference

SA913509

Dealers Internal Reference

A2137

Description

This is a gorgeous antique French Louis Revival gilt bronze mounted kingwood and amaranth bureau plat, Circa 1860 in date.

The shaped top has a decorative gilt bronze border, raised corner cartouches and an inset gold tooled green leather writing surface, above three frieze drawers on one side and dummy drawers on the other.

“

It is freestanding, has fabulous decorative ormolu handles and mounts including female masks at the shoulders and Bacchic masks to the sides.

Regent Antiques

fig 1. A 19th-century French Louis XV Revival kingwood bureau plat writing desk featuring intricate parquetry veneers, gilt-bronze mounts, cabriole legs, and a dark leather top. — fig 1. Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

It features working locks and keys and three capacious oak lined drawers for all your storage needs.

It is raised on elegant cabriole legs with stunning figural ormolu mounts and lion's paw feet.

This is a truly lovely piece which will display beautifully in any interior.

fig 2. A 19th-century French Louis XV Revival kingwood bureau plat writing desk featuring intricate parquetry veneers, gilt-bronze mounts, cabriole legs, and a dark leather top. — fig 2. Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

Condition:

In excellent condition having been beautifully cleaned, polished waxed and releathered in our workshops, please see photos for confirmation.

Dimensions in cm:

Height 78 x Width 163 x Depth 91

Dimensions in inches:

Height 2 foot, 7 inches x Width 5 foot, 4 inches x Depth 3 feet

Kingwood

is a classic furniture wood, almost exclusively used for inlays on very fine furniture. Occasionally it is used in the solid for small items and turned work, including parts of billiard cues, e.g., those made by John Parris. It is brownish-purple with many fine darker stripes and occasional irregular swirls. Occasionally it contains pale streaks of a similar colour to sapwood.

The wood is very dense and hard and can be brought to a spectacular finish. it turns well but due to its density and hardness can be difficult to work with hand tools. It also has a tendency to blunt the tools due to its abrasive properties.

fig 5. A 19th-century French Louis XV Revival kingwood bureau plat writing desk featuring intricate parquetry veneers, gilt-bronze mounts, cabriole legs, and a dark leather top. — fig 5. Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

Ormolu - (from French 'or moulu', signifying ground or pounded gold) is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-carat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze.The mercury is driven off in a kiln leaving behind a gold-coloured veneer known as 'gilt bronze'.

fig 6. A 19th-century French Louis XV Revival kingwood bureau plat writing desk featuring intricate parquetry veneers, gilt-bronze mounts, cabriole legs, and a dark leather top. — fig 6. Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

The manufacture of true ormolu employs a process known as mercury-gilding or fire-gilding, in which a solution of nitrate of mercury is applied to a piece of copper, brass, or bronze, followed by the application of an amalgam of gold and mercury. The item was then exposed to extreme heat until the mercury burned off and the gold remained, adhered to the metal object.

fig 7. A 19th-century French Louis XV Revival kingwood bureau plat writing desk featuring intricate parquetry veneers, gilt-bronze mounts, cabriole legs, and a dark leather top. — fig 7. Antique Louis Revival Kingwood & Ormolu Mounted Bureau Plat Desk 19th C

After around 1830 because legislation had outlawed the use of mercury other techniques were used instead. Electroplating is the most common modern technique. Ormolu techniques are essentially the same as those used on silver, to produce silver-gilt..

Our reference: A2137