English Walnut and Mahogany Secretaires
A William and Mary period fall-front secretaire cabinet on chest in walnut. c. 1690. The heavy mouldings in cross grained walnut, convex cushion drawer, and bun feet show the Dutch influence of William’s reign. The piece is veneered in fairly straight grained English walnut without much figure and shows herring-bone inlay [...]

English Bureau Bookcase
A Queen Anne walnut bureau bookcase of the slender ’single width’ type with simple bookcase above. There is a chamfered edge period glass mirror in the door. The bureau section exhibits all the characteristics of ordinary bureaux of the period - herring-bone inlays and cross banding, drawer edge mouldings and stepped interior. The [...]

A Chippendale mahogany kneehole desk of exceptional quality, c. 1760. The front is of serpentine shape and the choice of veneers is extremely fine, showing pronounced figure.
The mouldings show considerable refinement. A cock bead is to be seen around the drawer edges and the shaping of the bracket feet is one typically attributed to the [...]

ANTIQUE ENGLISH BUREAUX
Before antique bureaux in the Middle Ages many small portable oak desks were made consisting of a simple box with sloping hinged lid on which the owner could write and keep his papers inside. Towards the end of the 17th century this form of desk appears to have been also made on a [...]

Antique English Pedestal Desks
mahogany library or writing table - mahogany pedestal desk - kidney-shaped writing table or desk - burr yew pedestal desk on paw feet - nineteenth century mahogany pedestal desk - kidney-shaped desk of Sheraton design
Pedestal desks for study, library and office use do not really stem from the same origin as the [...]

Antique English Georgian Walnut and Mahogany Pedestal Desks.
Original pedestal desks - George III mahogany desk - George III provincial kneehole pedestal desk - Victorian oak desk with mahogany veneer - 18th Century walnut desk
The pedestal desk was not made until c.1765 when it can be seen in its grandest form  very large and ornate, and [...]

Carlton House desk
This extremely elegant piece of writing furniture owes its name to the Prince of Wales’ grand London town house which used to stand on the present site of Carlton House Terrace, overlooking St James’s Park. A Carlton House desk is a typical Regency design: sleek, elegant, depending entirely on its shape with no [...]

Fall Front Desks and Secretaires
As antique desks especially for writing grew in popularity in the 18th century, different styles were developed. The secretaire a abattant, a tall French writing desk, was first produced in the 1700s in Paris by the cabinet-maker, Jean-Francois Oeben.
The secretaire a abattant looked, from its flat-fronted exterior appearance, like an armoire, [...]