Louis XVI Desk sells for £5,800 at Halifax auction house

“The desk was consigned by a local family a few weeks ago,” says James Watson from Halifax Mill Auctioneers. “I’d originally thought it to be a mid-century piece, but a local furniture restorer clued us in to it likely being Edwardian.

“The Serpentine form to the desk and its Queen Anne legs were typical of this type of Louis XVI Styled piece, but it was its cross-banded parquetry top and the inlaid floral marquetry freeze and ormulu mounts, which really set it off as a special item.

“The local Boothtown family have lived overseas at times and in various cities across the world, so this desk has covered a number of air miles, most recently from France I believe.

“The two bidders battled it out from their initial £1,000 feelers to take it all the way up to just under the £6,000, with the successful winning buyer coming from Sussex.

“We knew the desk was something special when I’d gone across to appraise the piece at the family’s home, but I never thought we’d achieve that level of interest.

“Even with a conservative £600-£800 guide price, we’d to be honest only imagined an approximate £1,000-£1,200 final hammer value, so to be reaching almost £6,000 is incredible for us as a new auction house and such a good news story for the family that consigned it.”