Antique Davenport Desks
DESKS: DAVENPORT
Regency rosewood Davenport desk with swivel top.
Antique davenport desk produced in 18th century 1795-1885 small free-standing writing-desk made in large numbers and with many variations through the 19thC. The name derives from an entry in the 1790s cost books of Gillow in Lancaster - ‘For Capt. Davenport, a desk’- alongside a design for a boxlike desk with drawers opening to one side and a writing-slope above. Although presumably as a space-saving design for use on board ship, its small size and lower-than-average height ensured its popularity with women and children.
Regency davenport desk had a simple slope-top box which could either slide forward or sideways on runners to provide knee-space, or swivel to one side on a stout peg. Some had a brushing and/candle slide at one side (see p. 329). The flat surface above the slope was generally bordered by a brass gallery. Many had a long, narrow drawer fitted with small compartments for ink and writing implements which pulled out from one side. This was usually released by removal of a long pin inside the desk, its head masquerading as the knob of a small dummy drawer. Most desks were supported on bun feet, some on short, turned legs on castors.
During the 1820s the front of oak and mahogany davenport desk was often faced with pilasters, but more commonly a fixed slope, supported on pillars rising from a plinth, replaced the sliding top. The lower drawers became correspondingly narrower. Galleries were constructed from wood, and bun feet were flattened or replaced by semi-concealed castors.
By the mid 1850s elaborately carved rococo cabriole (or triple C-scroll) desk supports were fashionable, their curves often echoed by a serpentine front to the slope above. Gal-black walnut Davenport with inlaid stringing and ebony bandings, about 1860.
Rosewood, about 1880,
Mid-Victorian walnut Davenport with rococo scroll supports.
After 1860 ‘piano lid’ tops were popular, with pull-out writing-slides.
Pillars gradually retreated under a cantilevered top and by the 1870s were more decorative than functional, in some cases being replaced by brackets.
During the 1880s fashionable ‘Art Furniture’ Davenports had short ring-turned legs and panels of gilded and painted decoration.
The greatest variation in Victorian Davenports occurred in the position and conformation of the stationery compartments which could be quite varied:
Simply inside the desk (as in a bureau, seep. 100);
The early-type pull-out drawer desk, hinged to lie flat against the side of the desk when fully extended;
A raised and lidded box on the flat shelf above the slope, or a lidded compartment set beneath it;
In a large ’secret’ compartment rising up at the back of the desk when released by a lever, button or sliding panel hidden somewhere inside. Sometimes they moved in conjunction with a pull-out writing-slide. Pieces with these rising ‘harlequin’ superstructures are generally
Design for Davenport of around 1880, referred to as ‘harlequin Davenports’;
Later examples sometimes had a small two-door cupboard above the slope.
Features common to all types include:
Symmetry of design. Drawers matched by dummy drawers on opposite side. Similarly, a panelled door enclosing drawers matched by panelling.
Finished on all sides. The back panelling usually complements the front.
Matched colour and grain of timber on top and bottom sections. (Failure to do so may indicate a later ‘marriage’.)
Locks on desk, stationery compartment and all drawers (or enclosing door). Commonly Bramah locks (see p. 94), but sometimes skeleton escutcheons).
Right, Victorian walnut Davenpod, with piano front and harlequin writing superstructure.
Very late mahogany examplc.
Standard practices for the day employed. Harlequin rising superstructures generally work on a spring mechanism, but occasionally on counter-balanced weights.
Solid mahogany, rosewood and walnut, and veneers of the same on an oak or deal base. Occasionally satinwood. Other highly figured veneers such as amboyna or burr walnut
were greatly favoured by the Victorians. Cheaper versions were made in solid oak, elm or poor quality mahogany or imported walnut.
Brass, ebony, mother-of-pearl, boxwood and many other timbers used for inlaid decoration.
Writing-surfaces fitted with inset leather panels, with tooled and often gilded borders.
Restrained inlay and stringing lines of brass or ebony on some pre-Victorian examples.
In the early Victorian period (up to the mid-1860s) decoration was largely supplied by ornate carving on the supports, applied split mouldings on flat surfaces and pierced galleries
around the top. Until about 1870 highly figured veneers were considered a decorative feature in their own right.
During the 1860s inlaid panels of stylized or naturalistic flowers popularly adorned the front panel and occasionally the sides too.
Handles: Small, turned wooden knobs on all drawers. Metal handles only correctly seen on very late examples.
In most cases, wax polish. Very cheap Victorian versions were heavily stained and usually finished with a glossy French polish (see p. 16). During the 1880s many were fashionably ebonised with gilt incised decoration.
VALUES
Totally plain Victorian davenport desks are within the average buyer’s reach. Highly decorative, burr veneer, harlequin examples can fetch sums in high four figures. The majority are in the low four figures. Surprisingly, fussy Victorian Davenports sell better today than more elegant Georgian ones.
948 night old bouledogue
william and mary period carved wood table a george i period table a virginian walnut table
table silk woven
5 lovely napkins monogram dp
former black braid of spring
sheet in large monogram lin
night light alu inox 1970s
beautiful flowers decoration perfect state
sheet in large monogram lin
Tags: Antique, Art Furniture, black walnut, cupboard, DAVENPORT, Davenports, drawer, Drawers, FRENCH, mahogany, mid 1850s, oak, Regency, rosewood, walnut, writing desk