'Joséphine' Leather Top Victorian Writing Table

A Late Victorian Writing Table, circa 1890.

There is something quietly seductive about a writing table that has outlasted the hands that once wrote at it. This elegant example - rendered in richly grained rosewood, with fine boxwood line inlay tracing its every edge, carries the refined sensibility of Napoleon III's France into the last, golden exhale of the Victorian age.

Dressed in its original terracotta coloured leather, the surface invites the imagination: letters composed by candlelight, a diary kept in careful copperplate, correspondence that crossed continents by steamship. A single frieze drawer, fitted with its original key, holds its secrets still.

Below, four slender turned legs rise with architectural composure, each capped in gilded brass - a nod to the Parisian ateliers that first gave this form its name. They meet at the base in a graceful serpentine stretcher, arching between the legs, centred with a turned finial that anchors it with understated theatre.

This is a piece that understands ceremony. Position as a centrepiece in an entry hall, topped with a marble slab and dressed with a single architectural object - a bowl, a vase, a branch of something seasonal. Drawn into a book-lined study or sitting room - a surface for coins and correspondence. It gives purpose to a space that might otherwise feel unresolved.

If you’re interested in adding a marble top, this is something we can provide for you. Drop us a message and we can talk stone options, details and pricing. We'd love to customise with you.

Dimensions:

Height 73 cm (28.7 inches)
Width 100 cm (39.4 inches)
Depth 60 cm (23.6 inches)

Condition report: Good, original antique condition. Some imperfections and repairs.