The (, 'the King's desk'), also known as Louis XV's roll-top desk (), is the richly ornamented royal

cylinder desk The cylinder desk is a desk that resembles a Bureau Mazarin or a writing table equipped with small stacked shelves in front of the user's main work surface, and a revolving cylinder part that comes down to hide and lock up the working papers whe ...

which was constructed at the end of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

's reign, and is now again in the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

History

The was probably started in 1760, when the commission was formally announced. Its first designer was

Jean-François Oeben Jean-François Oeben, or Johann Franz Oeben (9 October 1721 – 21 January 1763) was a German ébéniste (cabinetmaker) whose career was spent in Paris. He was the maternal grandfather of the painter Eugène Delacroix. Life and career Nothing is ...

, the master cabinet maker of the royal arsenal. The first step in its construction was the fabrication of an extremely detailed miniature model in wax. The full-scale desk was finished in 1769 by his successor,

Jean Henri Riesener Jean-Henri Riesener (; 4 July 1734 – 6 January 1806) was a famous German ''ébéniste'' (cabinetmaker), working in Paris, whose work exemplified the early neoclassical "Louis XVI style". Life and career Riesener was born in Gladbeck, Westpha ...

, who had married Oeben's widow. Made for the new at the Palace of Versailles, it was transferred to the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

Museum in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

after the French Revolution, but has been returned to the Palace of Versailles in the 20th century where it stands again in the room where it was standing before the Revolution: the ('Inner study of the Private Apartments'), the famous study room where kings Louis XV and

Louis XVI Louis XVI (Louis-Auguste; ; 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) was the last king of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. The son of Louis, Dauphin of France (1729–1765), Louis, Dauphin of France (son and heir- ...

carried out their daily work, and where King Louis XVI decided to support the American insurgents in 1777. Secret diplomatic papers were kept inside the desk's secret drawers, whose only key the king always carried with him.

Description

The desk is covered with intricate

marquetry Marquetry (also spelled as marqueterie; from the French ''marqueter'', to variegate) is the art and craft of applying pieces of wood veneer, veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns or designs. The technique may be applied to case furn ...

of a wide variety of fine woods. In an oval reserve at the center of its "public" side, away from the king himself, is the marquetry head of "Silence", with forefinger to lips, a reminder of the discretion required in the king's business. Gilt-bronze moldings of plaques, statuettes, miniature busts and vases, even integral scrolling gilt-bronze candle stands, further adorn the surfaces of the desk. The original design was to have a miniature bust of Louis XV on top, but it was replaced by

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

after his death in 1770. Riesener later executed a simplified second version of the for

Pierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d'Orsay Pierre Gaspard Marie Grimod d'Orsay (14 December 1748 – 3 January 1809, Vienna), ''count, comte Orsay, d'Orsay'', was a collector of sculptures, paintings and drawings (which were seized by the government in 1793 and donated to the Louvre). Ear ...

, comte d'Orsay; today this may be seen in the

Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. His copy was the first of a number of replicas that were produced from the 1870s onwards by leading cabinetmakers in Paris, including four examples by

François Linke François Linke (1855–1946) was a leading Parisian ''ébéniste'' of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Early life Linke was born on 17 June 1855 in the small Bohemian village of Deutsch Pankraz, now known as Jítrava in the Czech Republ ...

. File:Bureau du roi, coté droit et face avant.jpg, Side view File:Mesa de Luis XV. 04.JPG, Candleholder File:Bureau du Roi, face avant droite - détail bronze et marqueterie abattant.jpg, Detail File:Bureau du Roi, coté droit détail médaillon.jpg, Detail, side File:Bureau du Roi, détail marqueterie droite de l'abattant.jpg, Marquetry medallion File:Bureau du Roi plateau supérieur et horloge.jpg, Top File:Bureau du Roi dessous n° d'inventaire.jpg, Underside

References

Bibliography

* Brunhammer, Yvonne; Monique de Fayet. ''Meubles et ensembles, époque Louis XVI''. Paris, Éditions Charles Massin, 1965. Pages 59, 60, 61, 65. * ''Grande encyclopédie illustrée des meubles''. Paris: Flammarion, 1980. Page 118. * ''Histoire du mobilier''. Paris: Editions Atlas, 1979. Pages 105, 106, 107, 144.

History

Description

References

Bibliography

See also