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A writing desk is not merely a table with drawers. The desks that survive from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries are small, careful pieces of architecture — sloped writing surfaces, hidden compartments, tiny drawers built to hold ink and sand and sealing wax, tambour shutters that roll up and away, pigeonholes for correspondence. Each of the great forms — escritoire, davenport, secretary, bureau, roll-top — solves the problem of writing in a different and characterful way. This is a guide to the styles worth knowing, how to spot a genuine antique versus a reproduction, and how to buy well within any budget.
The Escritoire
The escritoire (from the French écritoire, “writing table”) is the earliest of the recognisable forms — a tall cabinet with a fall-front writing surface that drops down horizontally on quadrant stays or chains, revealing a fitted interior of small drawers, pigeonholes, and often a secret compartment. The best examples are Louis XV or Louis XVI French, or Georgian English, in walnut or mahogany with inlaid stringing or marquetry. A well-restored escritoire of the eighteenth century is a serious piece — expect several thousand pounds at auction — but Victorian and Edwardian escritoires are widely available at more modest prices and are entirely functional.
What to look for: a fall-front that closes flush and level, quadrant stays or chains in working order, an original fitted interior (not a plain box, which suggests replacement), and dovetailed drawers with the small, hand-cut irregularities of period joinery. A Georgian mahogany escritoire from a reputable dealer will carry documentation.
The Davenport
The davenport is a small English writing desk, tall and narrow, with a sloped leather writing surface hinged at the back, drawers running down the right side of the case (and dummy drawer fronts on the left for symmetry), and often a small stationery compartment that pops up from the top on a spring. It was designed for a lady’s morning correspondence — small enough to sit beside a chair, tidy enough for a bedroom. The form takes its name from a Captain Davenport who commissioned the first one from the cabinetmakers Gillow of Lancaster in the late eighteenth century.
Victorian davenports are the most common and range from plain to fantastically elaborate — burr walnut, satinwood inlay, brass gallery around the top, carved bun feet. A Victorian burr walnut davenport desk in restored condition is one of the most usable antique writing pieces one can buy. Check the leather surface (replacements are inexpensive and don’t harm value), the working of the drawers, and the condition of any rising stationery compartment.
The Secretary Desk
The secretary (or “secretaire”) is a large, upright piece — essentially a chest of drawers or cabinet with a fall-front or drop-front writing surface set at desk height, and often a bookcase or glazed cabinet stacked above. The American secretary of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the English secretaire à abattant are the finest examples, but Victorian and Edwardian versions are common and often quite handsome. The secretary is the desk to buy when you want the writing surface, the storage of a chest, and the display of a bookcase all in a single footprint.
Two forms to know: the “drop-front” or “slant-front” secretary, where the writing surface angles up when closed and folds down flat when open; and the “cylinder” or “roll” secretary, where a curved solid cover conceals the writing area. The former is more common in American Colonial and Federal furniture; the latter, in French Louis XVI cabinetry.
The Roll-Top Desk
The roll-top is the great late-nineteenth-century American form — a large flat desk with a tambour of thin wooden slats glued to a canvas backing that rolls up into a curved recess at the back of the desk, revealing a bank of pigeonholes, small drawers, and a leather writing surface below. Its heyday was the 1880s to the 1920s, when Wooton, Cutler, and Derby made superb examples for offices and studies. A large restored oak or walnut antique S-roll top desk is a formidable piece of furniture and one of the most rewarding to actually work at.
Two rolls to know: the “S-roll,” with a smooth serpentine curve when closed, and the “C-roll,” with a simpler quarter-circle profile. S-rolls are more elegant and generally more valuable. The most important thing to check on any roll-top is the tambour: the slats should roll smoothly, without catching, and the canvas backing should be intact. Tambour repair is possible but not trivial.
The Bureau
The English bureau — also called a bureau bookcase when a bookcase or china cabinet sits above — is a slant-front desk on a chest of drawers, with the writing surface folding down on brass stays to reveal a fitted interior. It is the great Queen Anne and Georgian form, made from the early eighteenth century onward in walnut, mahogany, and later oak, and it remains one of the most collectable categories of English brown furniture. A period walnut bureau in original condition can command a serious price; a Victorian or Edwardian mahogany equivalent is far more affordable and equally useful.
How to Spot a Reproduction
Most reproductions are honest — clearly labelled and priced accordingly. The trouble comes when a twentieth-century reproduction is sold as an eighteenth-century antique. Four things to check.
First, the joinery. Genuine period drawers are dovetailed by hand — the pins and tails are irregular in size and spacing, and the saw kerfs go slightly past the joint. Machine-cut dovetails (regular, uniform, straight-cut) indicate post-1870 manufacture. Second, the timber underside. Period woods show natural oxidation, tool marks from hand planes, and slight variations in colour. Reproduction backs and drawer bottoms are often plywood, veneer, or perfectly uniform planed timber. Third, the hardware. Original brasses have soft, slightly irregular casting; reproduction brasses are machine-perfect. Fourth, the wear. Genuine wear happens where hands touch and feet scuff — the edges of drawer pulls, the front of the writing surface, the feet themselves. Fake wear is uniform and often decorative.
New vs Antique — What to Buy
For a working desk that will be used daily for the next thirty years, either can serve. A well-made new writing desk from a serious maker — think Stickley solid cherry writing desk or a reproduction from a specialist firm — is likely to give trouble-free service and can be sized to a modern room. An antique desk of comparable quality often costs less, carries provenance, and gives back in patina what it may lack in perfectly square drawers. The right choice depends on the room, the budget, and the taste of the reader. Both are valid; only the mass-market flat-pack imitation isn’t.
Questions from the Writing Desk
What is the difference between a bureau and a secretary?
The two terms overlap considerably. In the strict English tradition, a bureau is a slant-front desk built on a chest of drawers; a secretary (or bureau bookcase) is a bureau with a bookcase or cabinet set on top of it. In American usage, “secretary” often refers to the full stacked form with the bookcase above. In practice, the two words are used interchangeably by many dealers, and the specific style — slant-front, drop-front, cylinder, roll-top — matters more than the label.
Are antique writing desks worth buying?
For a certain kind of buyer, absolutely. A period Victorian davenport in restored condition can often be bought for less than a new mass-produced desk of the same footprint and comes with several generations of use already in it. The maintenance is modest — a leather writing surface can be replaced for a small sum, drawers can be waxed to run more freely, and a good French polish restoration transforms almost any tired antique. The one caveat: buy from a reputable dealer for anything above a modest price, and ask for provenance. There is a great deal of “period-style” furniture in the market being sold as period.
Is a roll-top desk practical for modern use?
Yes, provided the room can accommodate the depth. A full-size antique S-roll top desk is typically 55 to 66 inches wide and 30 to 34 inches deep — larger than most modern computer desks. The pigeonholes and small drawers are perfectly suited to a person who writes by hand, keeps physical correspondence, or works with any quantity of paper. For a laptop, the roll-top pulls down over an active screen with no trouble; for two large monitors, look elsewhere.
What is a partners desk?
A partners desk (or partner’s desk) is a large flat desk designed for two people to work at simultaneously, facing each other — banks of drawers on both long sides, and a single wide leather writing surface across the top. It was the traditional form for barristers, physicians, and business partners of the nineteenth century. Antique partners desks are large, heavy, and often magnificent; they suit a serious study or library, less well a small room.
How should an antique writing desk be cared for?
Keep it out of direct sunlight (which fades polished timber unevenly), away from radiators and other dry heat sources (which crack veneer), and away from the humid corners of a house (which lift veneer and warp panels). Dust weekly with a soft cloth. Wax lightly once or twice a year with a good beeswax furniture wax — never a spray silicone polish, which builds up a plastic film. The leather writing surface benefits from an occasional light application of a proper leather dressing.
See also: Fountain Pens · Fine Stationery · The Art of Letter Writing.
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