This writing desk is called a cylinder-top desk. When not in use, the writing surface and the many drawers, secret drawers, a safe and pigeonholes can be covered by pulling a cylinder-shaped lid. Once locked, all the papers were safe from curious eyes and long, prying fingers. This was important because there would have been a lot of servants in a household. It also contains secret drawers and a safe to make precious documents even more secure.

It was given by friends to Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (1732-1799), who started as a clockmaker but who, with the help of powerful friends, became an important person at the French court, a writer, musician, businessman and a secret agent. After Beaumarchais' death this desk was valued as his most expensive piece of furniture.

The desk was probably made in the workshop of Jean-François Leleu; it is such a complex piece of furniture that a whole team of artists and craftsmen must have been involved. All sides been covered with thin layers of various woods, like a puzzle, to create pictures of fruits, flowers and Roman ruins. There appears to be a sheet of paper, with handwriting on it, and a quill lying on the writing surface, but they are not real - this is another picture made out of wood. As you can see in the photograph, a reading stand can be raised from the top of the desk. The legs of the desk have been decorated with mermaid-like figures which are made of bronze covered with gold. The same materials have been used to create the little gallery on the top and the decoration at the corners and edges of the desk, all of which makes this piece of furniture even more precious.