Carlo Bugatti

An eclectic mix of North African, Moorish, and Middle Eastern aesthetics, this desk and table are the creation of Italian designer Carlo Bugatti. Trained at the Academy des Beaux Arts in Paris as an architect, Bugatti is best known for extraordinary furniture designs which typically include diverse materials such as parchment, exotic woods, and a mix of metals.

The horseshoe arch above the mirrored niche in the desk's center recalls the architecture of North Africa, where the designer traveled in the 1880s, while the inlaid pewter characters on the drawer fronts imaginatively imitate Japanese and Islamic calligraphy.