
At the King's Request
King Louis XV of France, also known as Louis the Beloved, was interested in a stylish and secure writing station that could be shuttered and locked. He asked his cabinetmaker, Jean Francois Oeben, to create such a desk for him. Oeben worked on the design for the last three years of his life. His successor, Jean Henri Reisner, spent six more years (1763-1769) perfecting it. More than a century would pass before the roll-top desk would make its mark in the furniture design community.