There are as many antique desks as there are uses for them. Visit any shop or website specialising in antique desks and you will find examples of every shape, age and size. Delicate Georgian ladies?writing desks; compact Davenport desks; Victorian tambours, Edwardian twin-pedestals and Dickens knows what else in between!
There are several things to consider when looking at antique desks. Are you buying as an investment, or as a useful piece of furniture? Do you want it for looks, for storage, for purpose or a little bit of all three? If you抮e planning to use the desk in your home office, it抯 important to have a measure-up first, as many antique desks ?particularly the Dickens and kneehole pedestal desks of the 19th century, are massive.
With the best will in the world, few antique desks are ever kept purely for show ?they抮e too tempting to put things in! However, some are more useful than others. An antique desk, like an antique dining table, is purchased as a utilitarian piece of furniture, as well as an aesthetically pleasing statement in your home, so you need to find a desk that suits its function. For example, there are some stunning kidney-shaped Sheraton-style and Rococo antique desks, with delicately turned legs and inlaid marquetry. Basically hallway tables with drawers (generally two or three) they are more to admire than actually use. At the other end of the scale is the massive Resolute desk ?a 19th century partner desk that sits in the Oval office of the Whitehouse. It is so named because it was made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute, after she was broken up in 1879.
Early desks were elegant and refined, designed mainly for domestic use. Home owners would use them for letter writing and storing household documents. The Industrial Revolution and emergence of the white collar worker led to considerable modifications in the design, with a demand for massive, robust office desks which reflected the importance of the industrialist, mill owner or councillor sitting behind them. Antique desks evolved to suit many types of user, from huge tiered Dickens desks suitable for storing the briefs of the solicitor or his clerk, to handsome twin- pedestal desks found in banks.
A very popular design, suitable for both home and office, is the roll-top desk, which was mass-produced in the 19th century. Among the more compact and affordable of antique desks, like the Davenport it is popular today. Basically an evolution of the pedestal desk, it features a rolling, lockable tambour which conceals a number of compartments, drawers and cubbyholes offering lots of storage for the user, as well as a small area to write. An older version is the cylinder desk, which sometimes features a pull-out section to extend the writing area. Another type has a slanted top, which folds down and secures, offering a writing space. Davenport antique desks are compact, variable and often ornate pieces of furniture with folding lids and side drawers.
Although Chippendale and Sheraton antique desks are very beautiful, they are also very expensive. However, Sheraton and Chippendale revival pieces of the late Victorian period are just as attractive, and can be widely found in antique dealers.
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