<p>A French Royal mistress' desk forms the centrepiece of a private art sale at Christie's auction House in London, and the item is expected to fetch £20 million. ($32 million)</p><br /><p>The 18th Century desk is thought to be the place where love letters to the French King, Louis XV would have been written. There are two pieces in the auction.</p><br /><p>"Both belonged to Madame de Pompadour who was mistress of Louis Quinze and the great patroness of the arts and an extremely beautiful, intelligent, amusing and glamorous woman. She had a very refined taste in furniture so their best cabinet maker for a very exacting and talented patroness and as you can see they're just really, really beautiful. " said Charles Cator, Deputy Chairman of Christie's International</p><br /><p>The collection is owned by Monsiuer and Madame Riahi; avid buyers of French 18th century furniture and works of art. The collection is now going to be sold off individually.</p><br /><p>The sale follows a record breaking sale of Riahi’s art collection in 2000, which amounted to $40 million at a Christie's auction in New York.</p><br /><p>December is one of the most important month on the art sales calendar and the winter sale at Christie's includes 54 old masters paintings spanning 500 years.</p><br /><p>The Riahi collection auction takes place on December 6, and the Old Master's go under the hammer on December 4.</p>
