Oak veneered with satiné; sycamore; ebony; box; amaranth; burr walnut and tulipwood; Carrara marble; gilt bronze; leather and brass. Marie-Antoinette escaped the rigours of court etiquette by visiting the Petit Trianon; a small but perfectly-formed house in the grounds of Versailles that became her personal retreat. Both she and her husband; Louis XVI; had apartments there and she was involved in choosing the furniture for their rooms. This desk; with a fall-front that hides a number of small drawers and pigeon-holes and drops down to provide a writing surface; was supplied for the Petit Trianon by Riesener; her favourite cabinet-maker; on 8 March 1783. Most of the archives of the Garde-Meuble de la Reine; one of the organisations that supplied the Queen with furniture for her apartments; have been lost so we do not know for which room it was intended. The veneer decoration; with its lozenge pattern marquetry; is characteristic of the furniture Riesener supplied for the queen and other members of the royal family. Originally the marquetry would have been a much richer colour; but this has faded with time. The delicate gilt-bronze mounts; depicting flowers and ribbons; echo the flowers grown in the gardens of the Petit Trianon; and are typical of Marie-Antoinette?™s love for the rural idyll. The central medallion has been added later. It is not clear when this occurred; but it is possible that it was in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century; probably in Riesener?™s life-time and maybe even done by Riesener himself. It is likely to have replaced an earlier; marquetry medallion.