I love the keyhole escutcheon, esp. all the detail. However, I think the warmer metal looks better with the tone of the wood. I know that's not very helpful. Good luck on your quest.

Could it be an early marriage? The top added at a later date?
Perhaps just the lock on the top is later?

The drawer pull looks like hand forged brass style from the late 18th century (Chippendale), I looks that old, but I am not an expert.

The door lock is late 19th century, I would guess 1860s or 70s.

If you look above and below the key escutcheon, you will see the ghosts of previous hardware -- an outline and a nailhole. My guess is the escutcheon is not original to the piece.

I don't think the drawer pull is original, either. There seem to be ghosts to either side of it, too. Could we see a shot of the inside of the drawer, where the hardware attaches?

If you really like the escutcheon, how about trying to match it? I love the ring pulls I added to one of our cabinets.

From House of Antique Hardware.

There is a site online: Top Knobs. Easy to find on Google and many choices in pewter.

I think it would be better if you found a Chippendale vertical keyhole cover. I know they exist. Then keep the pulls you have.

Here is a link that might be useful: keyhole cover

Thank you for the replies. I wrote a couple of responses yesterday but as I labored over the writing, more responses came ... and I chucked the whole thing. My admiration for all who manage to post daily! As my favorite recent "humansofny" post said "I'm not the best communicator. I spend a lot of time disappointed by what I just said."

So plow ahead... I have spend some time giving the desk a good going over this morning, with the thought that matching the escutcheon is a pipe dream (though I would dearly love to have a name for the style) and that total hardware replacement is in order.

Things I have learned about the desk: It is handmade.
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Hand dovetails, complete with some overshot saw marks in the back of a drawer.
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The drawer bottoms are chamfered
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It is missing a rail on the top. {{gwi:2138891}}
and those wood knobs are pegged into the drawer.

As for the drawer pulls. The inside of the drawers don't have evidence of the old pulls but you are right that there is more to the story than the ghost impression and nail holes of the original pulls.
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The mortise lock has been removed and the cut out filled with putty. So the original would have been a bail pull without a back plate and a key hole cover.

My mother acquired this desk while living in Germany in the early 1970's. Once upon a time I might have known more about it, but my brain is a sieve. It has provided a wonderful mystery and a dangerous rabbit hole of time suck that I am prone to fall in -- hardware catalogs on the Internet Archive & other resources to learn the terminology and history of furniture. I found a wonderful blog about furniture, if anyone is interested. Link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: knowledgable furniture bloke

There are some similar drawer pulls in the attached link, with this offer:

We Have Hundreds Of Different Pulls & Will be Unable To Picture Them All. If There's Anything Special You Are Looking For we may have it, Please Send Us A Picture

Maybe they'll have keyhole escutcheons, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Robinson's Antiques

If you click on the 'drawer pulls' link on the page that I linked to above, you'll find a link for Eastlake drawer pulls, which have a similar shape to your escutcheon.

Here is a link that might be useful: similar shapes on this page

Wow, mama-goose. Thank you! Lots of beautiful pulls including silver toned ones! Wonderful.

You're welcome. I wasted about an hour exploring that site. Now I want one of those door bells, like the servants' bells on Downton Abbey.

Me too!