Antique Tables: English and French Oak, Mahogany and Walnut Antique Sofa, Gateleg, Writing Tables and Desks

AN OAK “CREDENCE” OR FOLDING TABLE with semi-circular hinged top, the
moulded frieze with a drawer and broad canted corners, the frame raised on four baluster legs joined by a platform stretcher, and with a baluster-shaped gateleg back support, 2ft 7in. high by 3ft. wide (78cm. by 103cm.) circa 1640, reconstructed.

A CHARLES II OAK TABLE with a moulded plank top, the frieze with a drawer and raised on ball-turned legs and stretchers, 2ft. 6in.

A CHARLES II OAK SIDE TABLE with cleated two-plank top, the frieze with a two
panelied drawer veneered in fruitwood on turned baluster legs of exaggerated form joined
by moulded stretchers, 2ft. 4V2in. high by 2ft. wide (72cm. by 90cm.) circa 1675, feet
and cleats restored.

A CHARLES II OVAL OAK GATELEG TABLE,
by a moulded flat stretcher, the gates with simple waved upnghts.

A RARE WILLIAM AND MARY CEDARWOOD TRIANGULAR TABLE, the triangular top
with three flaps with spring supports and opening to form a hexagonal top, raised on three
turned legs joined by similar stretchers, 2ft. 3′/2in. high by 2ft. 21hin. open (69cm. by 67cm.)
circa 1690, tip of one flap missing.

A RARE WILLIAM AND MARY OAK DINING TABLE, four hinged curved fiaps supported on
baluster legs joined by a moulded oval stretcher and massive.

AN OCTAGONAL OAK “CRICKET” TABLE with plank top, the moulded frieze and three
turned legs joined by a triangular shelf and three stretchers, 2ft. 6in. wide (76cm.) late-17th
Century, restored.

A GOOD OAK REFECTORY TABLE
with massive four-plank top and simple shaped walnut end supports
joined by a long bar, 2ft. 5in. high by 8ft. long by 3ft. 3in. wide (74cm. by 273cm. by 99cm.) partly constructed from I8th Century wood.

AN EARLY 18TH CENTURY REFECTORY TABLE in walnut and oak, the four plank
top on piain trestle end supports with piain stretcher and feet, 5ft. Hin. long by 2ft. 8V2in.
deep (180cm. by 82cm.) circa 1720.

A FINE PAIR OF GEORGE I LABURNUMWOOD-VENEERED CONCERT-ACTION CARD
TABLES, each quarter-veneered top with a crossbanding and projecting rounded corners,
the baize-lined interior with counter wells and candie-stands, the conforming frieze raised
on turned legs headed by piain lappets and ending in pad feet, 2ft. Win. wide (86cm.) circa
1720.

A FINE PAIR OF QUEEN ANNE BURR-WALNUT SEMI-ELLIPTICAL GAMES TABLES each
in well figured wood, each top with a moulded edge, a chevron banding and a broad
crossbanding, one with a velvet-lined interior crossbanded in walnut, the other with a
walnut-veneered interior crossbanded in oak, each plain frieze with a small chevron-
banded drawer at each side below a slide and raised on four simple cabriole legs with pad
feet, 2ft. 4in. high by 2ft. 6вОО. wide (71cm. by 77cm.) circa 1710.

A FINE GEORGE III PENWORK-DECORATED PEMBROKE TABLE in the French style,
the serpentine top with a central chinoiserie design of figures with a parasol and a child
within a broad floral border and an outer white border, the frieze with a chinoiserie
design, ivory knobs and a drawer surrounded by fruiting vines, the slender cabriole legs
headed by carved husks and decorated with fruiting vines, with brass castors, 2ft. 6in. long
by 3ft. ‘Ain. open (76cm. by 92cm.) circa 1780.

A FINE GEORGE III OVAL MAHOGANY PEMBROKE TABLE
in the French style, the flame-figured moulded top with a
narrow crossbanding, the bowed frieze with a drawer and raised on slender moulded cabriole legs headed by a fluted trumpet hung with a husk and with circular flowerhead brackets.

A GEORGE III OVAL MAHOGANY AND MARQUETRY URN TABLE, the galleried top
with satinwood banding engraved and stained with entwined leaves enclosing flowerheads
and with a narrow tulipwood outer banding, the frieze with a small slide and raised on
Square tapering legs headed by trailing garrya husks and a circular patera, 2ft. VMn. high
by lft. 2′/2in. wide (65cm. by 37cm.) circa 1780.

A FINE GEORGE II OCTAGONAL MAHOGANY TRIPOD TABLE, the gallery pierced with
Chinese fretwork and each side joining at the corner in a scroll, supported on a leaf-carved
trumpet and three tall inscrolled Supports carved with leaves and ending in bold scrolls,
2ft. 6in. high by lft. 8V4in. wide (76cm. by 51.5cm.) circa 1750.

A LATE 18TH CENTURY CHINESE LACQUER KNEEHOLE DRESSING OR WRITING
TABLE of slightly inverted breakfront form, the moulded top inset with a panel of gilt-
tooled green leather and with a frieze drawer and six short drawers flanking a recess with
three drawers, on bracket feet, decorated throughout with buildings and trees in gilt on
black, 2ft. 73Ain. high by 3ft. 8′Mn. wide (80cm. by 113cm.) late 18th Century, decoration
renewed, later top.

A GEORGE III SMALL MAHOGANY PEMBROKE TABLE, the top with a narrow
crossbanding and rounded corners with a frieze drawer and square tapering legs with
castors, 2ft. 33Ain. open (70.5cm.) circa 1780.

A FINE GEORGE III SATINWOOD MARQUETRY D-SHAPED SIDE TABLE, the top with
a swirling scrollwork hung with chains of flowers and with a giant shell medallion within
a main harewood border of ribbon meandering round seed pods and with two narrow
tulipwood crossbandings, the frieze and four square tapering legs inlaid with chains of
leaves with narrow kingwood crossbanding, 2ft. 7′Ain. high by 4ft. 6lAin. wide (79cm. by
138cm.) circa 1775.

A GOOD GEORGE III MAHOGANY TWO-PEDESTAL DINING TABLE with two extra
leaves, each hinged end with rounded corners and raised on a plain pillar and four canted
reeded sabre legs with plain brass toes and castors, 4ft. wide by lOft. 8in. long fully extended
(122cm. by 325cm.) circa 1800.

A REGENCY JAPANNED PEDESTAL TABLE, the hinged rectangular top with broad
canted corners and a chinoiserie scene in gilt with a woman seated by a table and a
fisherman walking towards a boat, on ebonised obelisk support and concave triangular
base, 2ft. 5′Ain. high by lft. 6in. wide (74cm. by 46cm.) circa 1810.

A REGENCY MAHOGANY FOLDING COACHING TABLE with hinged top and waved X-shaped
supports joined by turned stretchers, 3ft. Van. open (92cm.) circa 1815.

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY KNEEHOLE WRITING TABLE
with a central frieze drawer above an arch flanked
to each skie by three drawers and a deep drawer resemble two drawers,
on a plain plinth base, ail the drawers painted (76cm. by 132.5cm.) 1810.

A PAIR OF OVAL TWO-TIER ETAGERE TABLES, each with a gilt-stamped black
leather-lined shelf on four pillars with pineapple finials and brass castors, 2ft. lin. high by
lft. 9lhin. long (63.5cm. by 54.5cm.).

A PAIR OF THREE-TIER ETAGERE TABLES of square shape, veneered in rosewood
and with gilt-brass column corners, with bail finials and castors, square (36cm )
19th Century.

A TWO-TIER ETAGERE TABLE,
each rectangular shelf veneered in rosewood with gilt-brass
border and gilt-brass circular legs and castors, lft. 8in. high by 2ft.

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY SMALL TABLE, the top with rounded corners
above two drawers, the lower one panelled to resemble two drawers, on slender ringed
legs with castors, lft. 6′Ain. wide (46.5cm.) circa 1805.

A NEST OF THREE REGENCY ROSEWOOD TABLES, each on a pair of twist-ringed
pillars with downcurved legs joined by a straight stretcher.

AN IVORY-INLAID KINGWOOD-VENEERED TABLE
CABINET, the hinged lid and sides veneered with a brick
design with ivory ‘mortar’, the architectural front with
an arrangement of six short drawers flanking a dummy
drawer and a cupboard enclosing three long drawers,
the whole of the front inlaid with a eut ivory scrollwork,
lft. 5V4In. high by wide (44cm. by 75cm.) mid-
17th Century, probably Spanish.

A DUTCH MARQUETRY CENTRE TABLE, the top
inlaid with an oval set with flower vases flanked by
birds, within burr-walnut and maple crossbanding within
floral spandrels and a floral border above a similarly
inlaid frieze drawer, on square tapering legs ending in
blocks and joined by a concave X-stretcher, on later bun
feet, 2ft. 4lhin. high by 3ft. 7′Mn. wide (73cm. by 110cm.)
late 17th/early 18th Century.

A GILTWOOD SERPENTINE FRONTED CONSOLE TABLE
with a pierced C-scroll and acanthus leaf-carved apron
centred by a shell, on elaborately carved cabriole legs
hung with floral garlands and joined by an asymmetrical
pierced C-scroll and S-scroll stretcher with a grey marble
top, 2ft. 8in. high by 3ft. 9lMn. wide (81cm. by 116cm.)
circa 1750, probably German.

A DUTCH WALNUT MARQUETRY TRIPOD TABLE, the circular
hinged top inlaid with a flower vase within a scrolling garland,
on a ring-turned baluster stem and downcurved cabriole legs, 2ft. 5lhin.
high by 2ft. 4V2in. diam. (75cm. by 72.5cm.) mid-18th Century.

A DUTCH MARQUETRY CARD TABLE, the triangular
baize-lined top and frieze with chevron bandings and
boxwood stringing, with a vase of flowers above a
bearded mask, on four tapering legs with inlaid bands of
lighter wood, 2ft. 4′/2in. high by 4ft. lin. wide (72cm. by
124.5cm.) circa 1790.

A BIEDERMEIER FRUITWOOD SMALL TABLE with a
drawer and square tapering legs, 2ft. high by lft. Hin.
wide (61cm. by 58cm.) circa 1830.

A BIEDERMEIER FRUITWOOD JARDINIERE TABLE
with panelled frieze and square tapering legs, 2ft. wide
(73cm.) circa 1830.

A LATE GEORGE II MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE, with
moulded top and frieze drawer, on square chamfered
legs, 2ft. 4′/2in. high by 3ft. wide (72cm. by 93cm.)
circa 1760.

AN EARLY GEORGE III MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE,
with brass gallery, plain frieze, with square chamfered
legs headed by pierced fluted brackets, 2ft. Hin. high by
6ft. wide (89cm. by 183cm.).

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY TOILET TABLE, with a
rising adjustable mirror and a divided hinged top
enclosing apertures for fitments with a cupboard and
square chamfered legs joined by a concave platform,
lft. 4in. wide (41cm.) circa 1770.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY EXTENDING DINING TABLE,
with a pair of leaves, each D-shaped end raised on four
square tapering legs, 4ft. wide by 8ft. 2in. fully extended
(122cm. by 249cm.) circa 1780, with restoration.

HOLE DESK OR DRESSING TABLE, of triple bow-front
form, the top with reeded edge, three frieze drawers and
each pedestal with a bowed door enclosing tray shelves
on a phnth base, 2ft. 4′Mn. high by 4ft. min. wide (72cm
by 138cm.) circa 1800.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SERPENTINE-TOP CARD TABLE,
on square tapering legs and block feet, 2ft.
high by 2ft. 7in. wide (74.5cm. by 79cm.) circa 1780.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE with semi-
circular top and panelled tapering legs, 2ft. 103Ain. high
by 4ft. 3in. wide (88cm. by 129cm.) circa 1785, the frieze
now containing a drawer.

A REGENCY MAHOGANY TRIPOD TABLE, the
rectangular hinged top on slender ring-turned baluster
stem and reeded downeurved legs ending in bun feet,
2ft. 3′hin. high by 2ft. lin. wide (70cm. by 63cm.)
circa 1805.

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY WRITING DESK
with a tambour front enclosing a fitted interior and
writing slide above a pair of frieze drawers on square,
tapering, fluted and stop-fluted legs, 3ft. 5in. high by 3ft.
‘hin. wide (104cm. by 93cm.) circa 1790.

A REGENCY BREAKFAST TABLE, the rectangular hinged top with
reeded edge on a ring-turned baluster stem and reeded sabre
legs ending in brass castors, 2ft. 4in. high by 4ft. wide (71cm. by 150cm.) circa 1820.

A PAIR OF GEORGE III MAHOGANY GAMES TABLES,
the rectangular tops with reeded borders and deep
chamfered corners, the friezes inlaid with stringing and
raised on turned tapering legs, 2ft. 5′hin. high by 2ft.
ll3Ain. (75cm. by 91cm.) circa 1800, one with Upper
section of top replaced.

A FINE GEORGE III MAHOGANY THREE-PEDESTAL
DINING TABLE, each pedestal with a vase-shaped stem
and downcurved legs ending in brass castors, 2ft. 4in.
high by 8ft. Hin. long by 4ft.deep (71cm. by 274cm.
by 136cm.) circa 1800.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY TWO PEDESTAL DINING
TABLE, with rounded square ends on nng-turned
baluster and reeded sabre legs, ending in brass.castors
2ft. 5in. high by 6f, Win. long by
209cm. by 122cm.) circa 1815.

A REGENCY MAHOGANY SOFA TABLE, the top
crossbanded in satinwood and inlaid with boxwood
stringing with two real opposing two dummy drawers,
and with D-shaped flaps, on trestle supports joined by
an arched stretcher, 2ft. 5in. high by 5ft. lin. wide (74cm.
by 155cm.) circa 1805.

A LATE GEORGE III ROSEWOOD SOFA TABLE, with
two frieze drawers in one side, on a ring-turned baluster
stem carved with lotus leaves and down-curved sabre
legs, ending in downcurved feet and castors, the whole
inlaid with brass stringing, 2ft. 4in. high by 5ft. ‘Mn. wide
(71cm. by 153cm.) circa 1815.

A REGENCY MAHOGANY SOFA TABLE, with
D-shaped flaps crossbanded in satinwood, the frieze
with one real and one dummy drawer on lyre-shaped
scrolling supports and sabre legs joined by an arched
stretcher, 2ft. 6in. high by 5ft. o’frin. wide (76cm. by
169cm.) circa 1815.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SOFA TABLE, with
D-shaped flaps and one real and one dummy drawer in
the frieze on trestle supports, joined by a ring-turned
stretcher on moulded sabre legs ending in brass castors,
2ft. 4in. high by 5ft. VMn. wide (71cm. by 156cm.)
circa 1810.

A PAIR OF GEORGE IV MAHOGANY CARD TABLES,
with canted corners and swivelling tops, raised on four
turned pillars, a platform and canted sabre legs, inlaid
throughout with a pale wood stringing, 2ft. Hin. zoide
(89cm.).

A WILLIAM IV ROSEWOOD CENTRE BREAKFAST
TABLE, the circular top with a beaded edge on a triangular
pillar and moulded beaded base and concave platform,
on moulded ball feet, 2ft. in. high by 4ft. 3′/2in.
diameter (72cm. by 130cm.) circa 1830.

A WILLIAM IV ROSEWOOD-VENEERED WORK TABLE,
with rounded corners, frieze drawer above a U-shaped
back support with turned pillar and coneave rectangular
base with bun feet, 2ft. 4in. high by 2ft. Hin. open (71cm.
by 89cm.) circa 1835.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SEMI-CIRCULAR CARD TABLE
with a baize-lined interior, crossbanded in satinwood, on
square tapering legs ending in block feet, 2ft. 5in. high by 3ft.
wide (74cm. by 91.5cm.) circa 1790.

A GEORGE III MAHOGANY SIDE TABLE with
crossbanded top and a hinged flap panelled to resemble
two long drawers, with a curved apron and square
tapering legs ending in spade feet, the whole inlaid with
ebony stringing, 2ft. high by 2ft. 4in. wide (80cm.
by 71cm.) circa 1790.

A GEORGE III PROVINCIAL MAHOGANY DRESSING
TABLE, the rectangular top with adjustable dressing
mirror on ratchet support, with two long and two short
drawers round a kneehole, on square tapering legs and
brass castors, 2ft. lO’hin. high by 2ft. 9′/2in. wide (87cm.
by 85cm.) circa 1800.

A REGENCY MAHOGANY CARD TABLE, the hinged
top crossbanded in rosewood, with a beaded frieze and
spirally ringed baluster stem on a concave platform
stretcher and hipped sabre legs ending in lion-paw
castors, 2ft. 5V2in. high by 3ft.wide (75cm. by 92cm.)
circa 1815.

A GEORGE IV CIRCULAR MAHOGANY TRIPOD TABLE
of George II style, with hinged top, baluster stem and
plain cabriole legs with pointed pad feet, 2ft. 4in. high by 2ft. 6in.
diameter (71cm. by 76cm.) circa 1820.

AN EBONISED PARCEL-GILT REGENCY CHEVERET
TABLE, the superstructure with a brass three-quarters
gallery above a pair of grille-filled doors flanked by lotus-
carved baluster columns, the frieze decorated with an
olive leaf motif centred by a rosette, on ringed tapering
legs joined by a platform stretcher, 3ft. 9in. high by 2ft.
wide (114cm. by 61cm.) circa 1815.

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY PEDESTAL PEMBROKE
TABLE, the rectangular top with rounded corners, with
a frieze drawer and central reeded column on four
moulded legs, 2ft. 4in. high by 2ft.wide
(71cm. by 90cm.) circa 1820.

A GEORGE IV MAHOGANY CARD TABLE,
with a hinged swivelling top enclosing a well, supported
on two ring-turned columns and a concave platform with hipped sabre
legs and brass castors, 2ft. 4V2in. high by 2ft. 11in. wide (72cm. by 90.5cm.) circa 1825.

A LATE GEORGE III MAHOGANY BREAKFAST TABLE,
the circular top with turned column and four legs, 2ft. 5in.
high by 4ft. 3in. diameter (74cm. by 130cm.) circa 1815, originally
part of a pedestal dining table.

A WILLIAM IV GILTWOOD SIDE TABLE,
with verde antico marble top and a pair of massive
foliate scroll supports, resting on a rosewood-veneered base with
giltwood egg and dart moulding and a mirrored backboard, 3ft. 3in.
high by 4ft. 8in. wide (99cm. by 142cm.) circa 1830, distressed and gold painted.

A WILLIAM IV ROSEWOOD TRESTLE TABLE, the
rectangular top with rounded corners and inlaid with a
satinwood band, with a drawer in the frieze and simple
trestle Supports, 2ft. high by 2ft. 4in. wide (70cm.
by 71cm.) circa 1830.

A WILLIAM IV ROSEWOOD BREAKFAST TABLE, the
circular top with a gadrooned border, the hexagonal
stem with concave-sided triangular base on gadrooned
feet, 2ft. 5′/2in. high by 4ft. 6in. wide (75cm. by 137cm.)
circa 1835.

A WILLIAM IV MAHOGANY TEA OR GAMES TABLE,
the rectangular hinged top with a beaded edge, on
columnar lotus-leaf carved pedestal and concave
platform stretcher on reeded bun feet, 2ft. high by
3ft. wide (75cm. by 91.5cm.) circa 1830.

A WILLIAM IV MAHOGANY GAMES TABLE, the top
with a central sliding panel enclosing a backgammon well
and reversing to form a chessboard, with two drawers
flanking an arch with a dummy drawer, on piain trestle
supports, 2ft. high by 2ft. Hin. wide (77cm. by
89cm.) circa 1830.

A FLEMISH PARQUETRY SIDE TABLE,
the rectangular top with concentric oyster-veneered
circles in olivewood with hollywood stringing, a drawer
in the frieze and turned legs joined by wavy stretchers, 2ft. 6in. high by 3ft. wide (76cm. by 95cm.)
circa 1700, legs and stretchers replaced.

A GEORGE I WALNUT TABLE, with a moulded mottled pale
apricot-coloured top and rounded corners, the frieze with a
drawer at each end, the turned legs with lappets and pad feet, 2ft.
5in. high by 2ft. 8in. long (74cm. by 81cm.) circa 1725, marble modern.

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DESKS: BONHEURS DU OURS AN CHEVERETS
About 1770-1915
Lion’s mask handles on 19thC pedestal desk.
A satinwood bonheur du jour with simple inlaid decoration.
Handles: Generally very simple brass swan-neck in 18thC, turned wooden knobs in 19th, joined by a variety of metal ring, bail or drop handles around 1870, and horizontal wooden pulls around 1900.
Generally skeleton escutcheons; sometimes surface-mounted in late 19thC.
Stain or varnish followed by wax polish. French polish from about 1820. Dark  almost black  stain on ‘Elizabethan’ oak. Various brown stains and varnishes to simulate mahogany used on cheap quality pine.
Very few genuine 18thC pedestal desks about; those that are fetch enormous sums. Any example pre-dating 1900 invariably in four figures; only the cheapest type of post-1900 examples can be found for less. On
pieces of all dates, any decorative feature  even the use of a wood other than oak or mahogany  may seem to raise the price disproportionately.
Note: Original leather is rare; replacement (if done properly) does not affect value.
Sometimes simply described as writing cabinets on stands, these are small lady’s writing-tables, with a superstructure of drawers, pigeonholes and cupboards. Those with a long bookshelf above
drawers and a lifting handle at the back are called cheverets (sometimes spelt sheverets). Both types were introduced from France (as their name suggests).
Another popular subject for Edwardian reproductions. Manufacture restricted at all times to high quality makers.
The base was a small rectangular-topped table with one, sometimes two, shallow frieze drawer(s), occasionally opening to the side. Narrow, tapering legs (in 18thC tapering on inside edge only), usually ending in spade feet, sometimes with applied ankle mouldings; not infrequently in socket castors. Turned legs not unknown, but rare. Sometimes top folds out to form larger writing-surface, supported on small lopers in frieze, or occasionally on (opened) drawer.
Conformation of superstructure varies considerably. Most pieces bordered by low brass or wood gallery.
Can have tray shelf below, with shaped front to accommodate feet. Sometimes narrow stretchers on back and sides, or of X-plan.
Some burr walnut pieces in so-called ‘Louis’ style with cabriole legs, ormolu mounts etc. made from about 1860.
Principally satinwood; also mahogany and rosewood. Occasionally walnut from 1860 onwards.
Pine or mahogany for carcases (with oak or mahogany for drawer linings). Kingwood, harewood, tulipwood etc. for inlay and for small panels of contrasting veneer.
Standard methods employed.
Many good reproductions about: check drawer construction carefully for indications of date (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS, P. 103). Look particularly for 19thC machine-cut dovetails and quarter mouldings around inside
edges. Being good quality, inner surfaces may be lightly polished.
Principally figuring and arrangement of veneers; often inlay, mostly of stringing lines and simple ovals.
Some pieces painted with neo-classical motifs and/or flowers, wreaths etc. particularly from 1860 onwards. Late decoration tends to be less delicate than previously and covers greater surface area. Panels of classical
figures also popular.
Occasionally Wedgewood plaques or imitation Sevres porcelain panels set in doors.
Handles: Standard for day (for details see page 93).
Principally varnish, sometimes stain, followed by wax polish. French polish after 1820.VALUES
Even 19th/early 20thC reproductions command substantial sums; in fact there isn’t always a lot between them and the originals. Prices well into the thousands. Inlay a bonus.

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DESKS: ESCRITOIRES
Approximately 1680-1720
William & Mary mulberry wood fall-front escritoire.
0riginally known as a scrutoire or scriptor, this was a valuable piece of furniture in its day, its flat fall-front providing a good surface for
decorative veneers. The earliest versions are small and mounted on a stand, but the majority of survivals are large and sit on a chest of drawers. Rare objects today.
In two sections, the upper part slightly taller and narrower than the lower. join concealed by applied ‘waist’ moulding, matching one around base. Usually a pair of drawers above two deeper drawers in base. Originally
bun feet (usually replaced later with brackets).
Upper part with single fall-front writing-
surface (usually with velvet or coarser cloth base), supported first on brass chains, later on elbow hinges. There is a convex-fronted ‘cushion’ drawer in frieze, below a projecting moulded cornice.
Interior fittings: Flush with front and reaching full height. Vary in conformation; usually lockable central cupboard above deep recess, open pigeon-holes at top, all surrounded by differently-sized drawers. May be secret drawers concealed behind.
Mostly walnut (often burr); occasionally mulberry, yew or other highly figured woods. All veneered on pine carcase, with oak for drawer linings. Box, holly, harewood, various fruit-woods, occasionally ebony for
marquetry.
Note: An all-pine carcase will indicate Continental manufacture.
Standard methods employed (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS, p. 84). Hand-cut veneers about 1/8 inch/3 mm thick. Banding cross-cut with mitred corners. Often burr veneers on front; vertically-running, straight-grained veneer on sides. Fall-front cleated to prevent warping.
Mostly figuring of veneers, sometimes with cross- or feather banding. Occasionally oyster patterns. Sometimes seaweed or floral marquetry is seen.
Handles: Typical for day (for details see page 85). Brass drop handles, smaller inside than out, seldom matching. Thereafter brass bails with solid backplates outside; smaller ring handles with circular backplates inside. Large, surface-mounted, decorative brass escutcheons.
Varnish (to fill grain) followed by wax polish.
VALUES
Being rare, very highly priced, invariably in five figures. Even marriages (of top originally on stand to chest of drawers), if done convincingly, of considerable value. Fine marquetry, or any attractively figured alternative
to walnut, a price advantage.

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DESKS: CARLTON HOUSE
About 1785-1915
An Edwardian reproduction of a satinwood Carlton House desk.
Associated by name with the Prince Regent’s London house, and mostly dating from the Regency period, these were first mentioned as such in the 1796 cost books of Gillows of Lancaster, Described in contemporary pattern books as a `lady’s writing-table’. Made throughout the 19thC; very fine ‘Sheraton’ reproductions made by the Edwardians. Still reproduced today.
Carlton House desks are distinguished from other writing-tables by their large size (width usually more than 5 feet/1.5 m) and their low superstructure extending around the curves of their D-shaped top.
Made in two parts, the lower with two or three shallow frieze drawers; sometimes with an additional shallow lower drawer on each side. Generally tapering legs with spade feet (correctly tapering on inner edge only),
extending up to form corners of framing and standing slightly proud of vertical rails. Alternatively, turned legs with occasional ring mouldings (from about 1800) set underneath rectangular top, often with rounded (but no D) corners. Slightly overhanging top with moulded edge; inset leather writing-surface
bordered by cross-banded veneer.
Early superstructures comprised a small central cupboard flanked by tiers of drawers, they in turn flanked by concave-fronted cupboards and concave-lidded compartments with single or dummy drawer below.
Continuous flat top generally bordered by brass occasionally wood  gallery. Later superstructures more varied, often lacking concave-sectioned parts.
Principally satinwood and mahogany, with inlay of box, holly, harewood, kingwood etc. Occasionally rosewood. Sometimes amboyna and other figured woods. Bird’s-eye maple used for some Victorian pieces.
Pine or mahogany for carcases (with oak or mahogany for drawer linings). Pine throughout used for late reproductions.
Standard methods employed. Glued mortiseand-tenon joints with fine, lapped dovetails on drawers (machine-cut in later 19thC). All outer surfaces (except turned legs) veneered.
Stain or varnish, followed by wax polish.
Chiefly figuring of veneer with inlaid stringing lines and neo-classical motifs such as shells, drapery, scrolls etc. Sometimes similar painted decoration (these often Edwardian reproductions).
Handles: Can be simple bails with circular backplates on lower drawers; small brass knobs above. Occasionally lion’s mask ring handles below. Often small ring handles matching on all drawers  with plain or decorative (but basically circular) backplates.
VALUES
Original, early and finely veneered and inlaid examples are immensely valuable. Even good Edwardian reproductions may reach five figures. The least desirable are mid- to late-Victorian rectangular versions
particularly those with a raised centre to the superstructure  but even so, prices can still rise to four figures.

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DESKS: OAK AND MAHOGANY BUREAUX AND BUREAUX CABINETS
About 1740 onwards
Now made in one piece, with or without an additional upper cabinet or bookcase. A piece of furniture which changed very little over the following 150 years and which has been widely reproduced for a further century.
OAK BUREAUX
Oak bureaux were made in large numbers by provincial and country makers throughout the 18th and well into the 19thC. Unlike much other oak country furniture, many of these are of
considerable quality and sophisticated design and construction, and as such, command high prices.
Base: Rectangular (oak) lopers at top with
Mahogany bureau bookcase, about 1770.
single or pair of drawer(s) between, above two or three long drawers of graduated depth. Sometimes three deep drawers only after 1800. Mostly cock-beaded edges. Sometimes mahogany cross-banding on oak. From about 1780 drawers occasionally replaced by two-door cupboard (but only when cabinet above). Bracket feet with straight apron; ogee brackets fashionable between 1730 and 1775. Occasionally swept feet after 1780.
Desk: Flap mostly cock-beaded around edge (matching drawers below); sometimes ovolo lip moulding on solid mahogany after 1780.
Interior fittings: Symmetrically arranged and set back from front edge. Less frequently stepped; straight-fronted drawers increasingly common. Almost invariably central cupboard flanked by pilasters; usually secret compartment behind.
Upper cabinets: Majority glazed by 1750 with interior shelves for display of books, china etc. Decorative patterns of glazing bars,
Below, alternative designs for glazing bars.
Country-made oak bureau with mahogany cross-banding on drawers, 1760-1770.
Hepplewhite mahogany bureau, about 1780-1800.
astragals etc. (see BOOKCASES, p. 37). Otherwise wood-panelled (also with shelves rather than fitments inside) often of shaped outline.
Cornice can be:
1725-1800 broken architectural pediment with central vase or bust.
1760-1810 swan-neck pediment, pierced or solid, also central vase or bust.
1780-1810 straight, with dentil or other moulding.
1800-1830 straight with central and side antefixae or carved and scrolled, frequently with central anthemion.
All can have decorative frieze carved with prevailing fashionable design. Chinese and Gothic motifs fashionable to about 1780; thereafter, fluting interspersed with paterae was most common.
Tendency for whole piece to become wider and taller around 1760, but smaller again towards 1800.
REPRODUCTIONS
18thC bureaux a popular subject for Victorian and Edwardian reproductions (and pastiches), particularly after 1870. Some reasonably authentic, many definitely not. Even those of standard form often given away by inappropriate feet or vulgarly matched veneers. Most popular today are those in Edwardian ‘Sheraton’ style with bold satinwood cross-banding and single inlaid shell in centre of fall.
Out of the mainstream of design, but surprisingly numerous today, are rather tall, angular oak bureaux, with a number of open shelves and small cupboards flanking the desk section, which were made in progressive style from 1900.
Hepplewhite mahogany bureau, about 1780-1800.
astragals etc. (see BOOKCASES, p. 37). Otherwise wood-panelled (also with shelves rather than fitments inside) often of shaped outline.
Cornice can be:
1725-1800 broken architectural pediment with central vase or bust.
1760-1810 swan-neck pediment, pierced or solid, also central vase or bust.
1780-1810 straight, with dentil or other moulding.
1800-1830 straight with central and side antefixae or carved and scrolled, frequently with central anthemion.
All can have decorative frieze carved with prevailing fashionable design. Chinese and Gothic motifs fashionable to about 1780; thereafter, fluting interspersed with paterae was most common.
Tendency for whole piece to become wider and taller around 1760, but smaller again towards 1800.
REPRODUCTIONS
18thC bureaux a popular subject for Victorian and Edwardian reproductions (and pastiches), particularly after 1870. Some reasonably authentic, many definitely not. Even those of standard form often given away by inappropriate feet or vulgarly matched veneers. Most popular today are those in Edwardian ‘Sheraton’ style with bold satinwood cross-banding and single inlaid shell in centre of fall.
Out of the mainstream of design, but surprisingly numerous today, are rather tall, angular oak bureaux, with a number of open shelves and small cupboards flanking the desk section, which were made in progressive style from 1900.
Various pediments: A broken, about 1730-1830; B swan-neck, 1760-1810; Cplain dentil, 1725-1800; D moulded dentil,- E Regency scroll, 1800-1830.
Majority in mahogany (either solid or veneered); closely followed by oak. Sometimes elm (or combination of oak and elm), ash and other indigenous woods.
Pine (with oak for drawer linings) for carcases and backboards, also cheap Honduras mahogany around 1760. Pine or beech when japanned.
Oak or mahogany for interior fittings. Sometimes with inlay of box, holly, bone; later harewood, kingwood, satinwood too. Satinwood facings to mahogany drawers common in late 18thC.
Hidden or lapped dovetails.
Flaps clamped to prevent warping.
Upper cabinets held in place with screws fixed through bottom shelf.
Sometimes figured veneers used for front (i.e. most visible) parts with straight-grained veneer on sides.
Marriages even more common than previously; check carefully (see p. 89).
Principally figuring of veneers. Some restrained carving on upper cabinets. Simple mahogany cross-banding on some oak pieces. Some inlay on drawers after 1780; mostly simple stringing lines, sometimes shells, fans and so on.
Japanning; mostly in black, but can be red or green with gilt and coloured chinoiserie patterns. Original examples of these are rare today; many are 20thC reproductions. Decoration alone usually gives these away, being more convincingly Oriental and covering a greater surface area than before, with plenty of gilding, especially in the borders. Flat, engraved hinges, escutcheons and handle back-plates identical if modern, irregular if old.
Note: a small amount of English-made furniture was shipped to China in the 18thC to be decorated by Chinese craftsmen, a procedure which can lead to confusion over origin.
Examples are however extremely rare and unlikely to be encountered outside the top salerooms. Lacquer is a specialist subject; it’s always best to seek expert advice if considering a purchase.
Handles: Typical for day (for details see page 87). Mostly swan-neck and other bails. Interior fittings with small bone, ivory or brass knobs.
All drawers and flap fitted with locks and escutcheons. Latter nearly always surface-mounted on flap, skeleton on drawers after 1750. Inlaid diamond (often bone or ivory) became common around flap keyhole after about 1780.
Oak: stain (applied with oil).
Mahogany: stain or varnish.
Both followed by wax polish. French polish almost universal after 1820. Many earlier pieces re-polished in this way at later date.
VALUES
Plenty of choice so price very variable. Small size (less than 2.5 feet/75 cm) will add to value considerably, as will a fine interior and attractively glazed and pedimented cabinet.
Usually, good country-made oak bureaux are generally worth more than reasonable quality 19thC mahogany examples.
Prices for virtually all standard bureaux (excluding pastiches) are in four figures, and frequently in five.
Edwardian ‘Sheraton’ bureau bookcase.
Oak bureau in Liberty’s Arts and Crafts style.

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DESKS: SECRETAIRES AND SECRETAIRE BOOKCASES
About 1710-1830
Known in the 18thC as a secretary, this piece of furniture appears as a chest of drawers with a full-width, deep, top drawer fitted like a bureau with small drawers, pigeon-holes and cupboards. The drawer pulls half out and its front drops down to form a writing-surface.
Frequently a single bookcase/display cabinet above. From about 1790, sometimes a two-door cupboard instead of drawers below, generally with glazed cabinet above. Secretaire drawer also found in tallboys and breakfront and library bookcases (see p. 35 and p. 89).
Particularly popular between about 1790 and 1810. Survivals date mostly from 1750 onwards.
Almost exactly as a chest of drawers or tallboy (see p. 89 and p. 92) but slightly taller, allowing for greater depth of single top drawer. Interior fittings as for bureaux (see p. 100) though often less ornate. Upper glazed cabinet as for bookcases (see p. 37), set back several inches from front of chest. The drawer itself usually has shaped side linings.
Nearly always mahogany; occasionally satinwood after 1780. Earliest versions in walnut; some rosewood during Regency. Only rarely found as country-made oak. Pine or mahogany for carcases (with oak or mahogany for drawer linings).
Standard methods employed (see relevant sections already listed).
Upper cabinets held in place with screws fixed through bottom shelf.
Fall-front to drawer fitted with elbow hinges released by push-button mechanism.
As for chests of drawers (p. 93). Figuring and arrangement of veneers on early pieces; some carving on mahogany; arrangements of veneers plus some neo-classical inlay in late 18thC (particularly quartered veneers and ovals on cupboard doors).
Varnish or stain, followed by wax polish.
VALUES
More a gentleman’s than a drawing-room piece and always less popular than bureaux, so relatively less valuable. Prices still in four figures though, five if very high quality with a bookcase above. Small size an advantage.
Below, Hepplewhite-style secretaire bookcase, 1780-1790; right, Chippendale-style, 1760-5.
Mahogany secretaire bookcase, about 1810-1820.

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DESKS: PEDESTAL
About 1750 onwards
Mahogany pedestal desk, early-19th Century.
Asubstantial piece of writing furniture deriving from the type of pedestal ‘library’ or ‘writing-table’ made and illustrated by Thomas Chippendale and other high quality London-based cabinet makers in the mid-18thC. Subsequently made in a wide range of sizes, the largest being the double. sided partners’ desk, the smallest the half-pedestal devised around 1900. Particularly popular during the 19th and 20thC for office use.
Early library tables with two pedestals of four drawers with a plain top with frieze below and carved and shaped apron fronting kneehole recess. Sometimes panelled cupboard doors enclosing pedestal drawers.
From about 1765 standard form evolved. Made in three parts: two pedestal bases, each containing a flight of three drawers of graduated depth. Sides generally flat when veneered, panelled when solid. Top with three frieze drawers, outer two of equal width to drawers below. Continuous plinth around bases (in late 19thC sometimes fitted with concealed castors). Occasionally bracket feet; short turned legs after 1790. Overhanging top with lip or thumb-nail moulding; narrow moulding around lower edge of top section.
Writing- surface with tooled (sometimes gilt) border. Later 19thC cloth imitation common. Can be laid in three sections. One pedestal sometimes has a cupboard, fronted by dummy drawers.
Above, late- Victorian mahogany pedestal desk, about 1880-1890; below, kidney-shaped mahogany pedestal desk, about 1800-1820.
By far the majority were rectangular; a few kidney- or D-shaped between about 1790 and 1820. Being free-standing, all visible surfaces were finished (i.e. back and inner sides of pedestals). Occasionally there was a solid back to the recess. (This feature was often found on simple provincial and country-made versions; used in smaller rooms of smaller houses, against the wall  i.e. not free-standing.)
Second half of 19thC saw continuous production of the standard model, but also an attempt to apply the prevailing historic revival and other styles such as:
Reformed Gothic: Chamfered edges, panels of diagonal planking, incised line decoration, carved trefoils.
Elizabethan: Heavily carved, dark-stained oak, carved wood, lion’s mask, pull handles.
Sheraton: Principally inlay, some marquetry, in contrasting coloured satinwood. Cross-banding too.
Variations included:
Partners’ desks (from about 1770): As a standard pedestal but double-sized and double-sided. Sometimes there are drawers one side and cupboards the others, but usually the configuration was identical.
Half-pedestals (about 1900 onwards): Made in one piece with apron below single drawer and simple legs replacing missing side.
Simple office desks (about 1900 onwards):With two four-drawer pedestals and plain top (i.e. without drawers). Curved apron fronting recess.
Late versions of standard pedestals may have bracket feet or short, turned or tapering legs ending in cup of box socket castors, considerably altering overall proportion, generally looking too insubstantial to support significant weight above.
From 1900 solid backs to recesses of office desks (for purposes of modesty) much more common. Some pieces with additional floor-level foot-rail.
Mostly mahogany. Commonly oak in 19thC, or pine, originally stained to simulate mahogany, but now usually sold stripped and waxed. Occasionally rosewood during Regency; burr walnut, yew and other figured woods in Victorian times. Sometimes satinwood for decorative panels of veneer.
Standard methods employed (see CHESTS OF DRAWERS, p. 93). Top framework with mortise-and-tenon joints. Top slots over blocks were glued to top of base.
Structural alterations not common, but occasionally marriage of bases to different top, or the superstructure (feature sometimes found on late 19thC pieces) removed and top re-veneered or replaced with new. Occasionally plain oak versions were veneered later to up price; look for all-oak carcase.
MOCK-GEORGIAN DESKS
Very many Victorian and early 20thC desks refurbished with new leather and period-style brass handles and sold as `Georgian’. Check construction of drawers carefully; watch particularly for plywood linings (an inter-war feature). The holes left by former handles may give a clue to the date. The horizontal wooden pulls common from about 1900 will show two screw holes (both inside and out) further apart than you would expect on a standard handle; the semi-elliptical metal handles popular between the wars will leave three
small screw or pin holes on the outside only, arranged as the three points of a triangle; Victorian wooden knobs will leave a 1/2 inch/I cm diameter hole on both sides.
Very little decoration. Some carving on verticals and friezes of early writing-tables. Inlay, mostly in the form of stringing lines, and occasionally marquetry of neo-classical inspiration, on drawers from about 1780; revived again in late 19thC (though this tends to be heavier, executed in strongly contrasting yellow satinwood). Sometimes narrow cross-banded veneer rather than inlay.
Some use of burr or highly figured veneers throughout 19thC.

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DESKS: BUREAUX AND BUREAUX CABINETS
About 1690-1740
Walnut veneered two-part bureau, about 1700.
Acombination of the bureau on stand and the escritoire, having an upper desk section with a fitted interior mounted on a chest of drawers; can have a cabinet above with further interior fittings for ledgers, papers,
Initially made in two sections with applied ‘waist’ moulding around join. (Moulding sometimes retained for decorative effect, even when made in one piece.)
Base: Until about 1725, square (oak) lopers at top, thereafter rectangular. May have single or pair of drawer(s) between, above two or three long drawers of graduated size, or blank space fronting a well with sliding top accessible from desk interior. A well suggests a slightly earlier date.
Usually narrow moulding at base. Bun feet until about 1710, then bracket. (Many buns replaced with brackets at later date; modern trend is to revert to type.)
A few have full-width writing-slide at top, usually with corresponding book-rest moulding on fall.
For details of drawer fronts, etc. see CHESTS OF DRAWERS, p. 86.
Desk: Sloping fall; generally flush with surrounding framework. Sometimes ovolo lip moulding around 1710-1720, matching drawers below. Narrow cock-beading introduced about 1730. Top always flush with sides; never overhanging.
Interior fittings: Plenty of variation, but always symmetrically arranged and set back from front edge. Simplest with open pigeon holes (often with arched top and aprons) and maybe two or three shallow drawers below, frequently of undulating outline. Early interiors generally stepped (later on country versions), with drawers of convex or concave section. Best have central cupboard flanked by pilasters (the grandest with ormolu or gilt brass capitals). Secret compartment usually concealed behind; reached by removal of
shelf, drawer or other fittings.
Upper cabinet: Sits within applied moulding. Two, occasionally one door(s). Fashionable early pieces panelled with mirror glass (with bevelled edges), but can be wooden, finished both inside and out, as doors were often left open to show off elaborate interior. This has further drawers and pigeon-holes etc. all flush with front. Some partitions tall and narrow for ledgers, folios.
Moulded cornice above may be:
straight
domed (single arch)
broken dome
double dome (most highly prized in its day)
broken architectural (i.e. straight-edged) pediment (found after 1725 and on mahogany only)
All with finial(s) at centre and/or sides.
Mirrored cabinets may have pair of candle slides at base (so that light could be reflected in glass). Both features went out of fashion around 1740.
Principally walnut veneer on pine carcase (with oak for drawer linings). Occasionally other figured veneers of mulberry, yew etc. Mahogany after about 1725.
Oak for some country and provincial pieces;
Queen Victoria’s reign in cast iron or brass or combinations of the two. Generally an iron base (for stability) and brass decorative parts. On all-iron pieces the body was covered with drapery and was therefore purely functional, usually simply ribbed or latticed.
Modern-style cribs or cots: First appeared during Regency. Initially in rectangular box form with turned spindles and straight, square-sectioned uprights continuous with legs.
Victorian examples marked by cast-iron construction with variously patterned mesh sides; sometimes raised around one end. Could have half-tester canopy (see p. 22). By 1900, generally plain slatted or turned wooden verticals, usually painted in plain colours. Height was adjustable on one side and on the base of wire mesh.
Oak, sometimes elm or other woods, for rocking cradles; mahogany, sometimes rosewood, for the swing type. Cast iron and brass tubing in the 19thC. Victorian reproductions often made in beech or pine, painted and grained to simulate oak.

Late victorian/edwardian metal Childs bed.

Until about 1800, the majority of cradles
were evidently made in wicker (with wooden rockers), but survivals in Britain in unknown.
In grand houses, cradles, like beds, were an indication of status and could be elaborate. State cradles were made in beech and completely covered with upholstery.
Cradles: Panelled. In early 18thC fielded panels were fashionable. Rockers usually cut and pegged into base of corner uprights, but could be attached via short turned supports dowelling into rockers and underside of frame. Hood occasionally hinged at back to allow easy access to baby. Sometimes holes, large wooden pins, or metal loops present at top of sides to take ropes to hold baby in place. Bottom usually had similar holes for bedlines (see p. 23). Alternatively could have fixed laths or a solid base, the planks removable for
easy cleaning.
Swing cots: Straightforward panelled construction. Alternative type with spindles dowelled into upper and lower framework. For brass and iron, see p. 28.
Humblest cradles could have simple chip-carving with lozenges, or more complex designs (see CHESTS, P. 82). Occasionally simple inlay of flowers or geometric borders.
Grandest had additional painted or gilt decoration of which traces may still be visible. Many were carved with initials and a date. This could be details of a birth, but sometimes the initials of the reigning monarch. Not a reliable method of dating as cradles were usually family heirlooms and the date could refer to a later occupant. Many spurious dates were added in the 19thC to fake authenticity.
Polish. Japanning on cast iron, often to simulate wood or bronze. Paint began to be a feature of cots around 1900.
VALUES
Despite their age and charm, not very valuable objects, the majority (of all types) being priced in three figures, many at the lower end of the scale. While their usefulness for their intended purpose may be short-lived, they make very good jardinieres.
Victorian brass and iron swing cot.

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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.

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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 designed by Thomas Chippendale. It developed from bedroom or dressing-room furniture. The kneehole dressing table, a small, extremely decorative piece of furniture, is contemporary with the lowboy of the Queen Anne period.
There was a cupboard in the kneehole for shoes, often a pullout writing or ‘brushing’ slide, and two sets of three small drawers either side of the kneehole. A single drawer ran the length of the piece above the kneehole. Rare to find are those with drawers which pull out, their fronts hinged, to disclose a fitted writing compartment.
In simple and ornate versions, pedestal desks have remained part of library furniture in England down to the present day. Although the name `pedestal’ implies that these desks were always without shaping to the bases, from c.1765 to c.1785 many were made with curving arch-shaped brackets beneath the two pedestals, running,  a solid line down the inside of the kneehole to be repeated decoratively at the back.
Signs of authenticity of desks
1. Three-piece construction should sit solidly.
2. Backs finished and veneered.
3. Carcase of Honduras mahogany, baywood or red pine.
4. Rich, dark veneer.
5. Lip-moulding overhang to writing surface.
6. Drawers oak sided. Bottom timbers running front to back until c.1780. No corner mouldings inside.
7. Inside of pedestal of same wood as rest of piece.
8. Small line of moulding at join of pedestal and top.
9. Veneer and timber grain on sides of top run vertically.
10. No cross-cut veneer round drawers.
11. Locks with rimmed brass keyholes rather than escutcheons. Steel levers to locks, brass casing.
12. Three top drawers, outside pair equal width to drawers in pedestal. Undersurface of central drawer in unveneered carcase wood.
Likely restoration and repair
13. Cut down from larger size. Central top drawer will have had veneer lifted and replaced. New handles may have been added and the holes of the old ones may still be visible inside the drawer.
14. New thin veneer on coarse-grained oak carcase.
15. New tops of solid wood with no frame of cross-cut veneer around stuck-down (rather than stud-fixed) leather panel.
16. Made-up from damaged kneehole desk with one long top drawer. New timber and veneer on inside and either side of pedestals.
17. Cut-down depth. A ’split’ can be felt under the lip-moulding where original top has been cut and veneer replaced after lifting.
Construction and materials
Original pedestal desks had three elements: two pedestals and a top section of writing surface with three integral drawers. The carcase of early desks was of cheap Honduras mahogany or baywood covered with a rich, dark veneer. Later desks had a carcase of Scandinavian, close-grained red pine. Early examples had, in each pedestal, a door concealing a flight of drawers, but by c.1790 the doors were often omitted and the drawers, with locks, became the more familiar pattern. As pedestal desks were free-standing, the desk back was well-finished and veneered.
There was no projecting decoration, such as carved feet or applied fretwork. Canted corners and pilaster mouldings were only incised where there were no doors to the pedestals. Except on very grand versions, there was little ornament unless it was flush with the surface  perhaps a small inset medallion or, from c.1790, brass stringing.
Although some desks had a solid top rather than an inset leather panel, larger versions may be found with three leather panels: one large central piece and two smaller flanking pieces. An overlap of lip-moulding ran round all four sides of the top.
Variations
Below: Twin-pedestal desk in mahogany veneer, c.1850.
Above: George III provincial kneehole pedestal desk with solid back and moulded edge to top. Note the brass carrying handles.
Pedestal desks were essentially `town’ pieces but they were made in less grand designs, usually of oak on plain pedestals, by most of the leading provincial manufacturers: Gillows of Lancaster, Morgan and Sanders, Thomas Butler, John Mayhew, George Seddon. These same manufacturers would have also made grander versions for more fashionable households. In country estate offices, pedestal desks and partners’ desks, as well as rent tables, were part of the estate manager’s general equipment. Kneehole desks, either with plain backs or with the back of the kneehole filled in, were more common in country houses. They were not necessarily free-standing and were often made with lip-moulding on three sides only, unlike their smarter town counterparts.
Reproductions of antique desks:
As with the classic bureau, pedestal desks have been made continuously down to the present day. Care should be taken when `period’ pieces are offered at high prices because there are far more poorly designed, mass-produced versions around than there are high-quality craftsman-made pieces. Originals were solidly made and, with care, were durable, but many have lost one of their original three elements and have had to be made-up of pieces cannibalized from other desks. Often, this marriage produces something less than the rock-solidness of the original.
The Victorians often made them in plain, coarse-grained `bleached oak’ and the Edwardians favoured inlaid bands of light veneer outlining the drawers. Recently, standard mass-produced desks have been veneered to resemble eighteenth-or nineteenth-century pieces and sold extensively on the Continent. The veneer is likely to lift because it has been applied to the wrong carcase wood. Their tooled leather writing panels are an obvious giveaway.
Price bands
George III mahogany desk with doors concealing pedestal drawers, $10,000-12,500.
George III pedestal desk with less detail than above, mahogany veneer, $6,000–7,500.
Plain, twin pedestal desk, early nineteenth century, $1,700-2,200.
Victorian oak desk with mahogany veneer, $800-1,200.

How to identify antique desks?  See some more examples and pictures:

George III kneehole mahogany desk.

18th Century walnut desk with crossbanded top.

Late 18th Century mahogany kneehole desk with a fall front secretaire drawer.

An early 18th century walnut kneehole desk, the top moulded and inlaid with feather stringing on bracket feet.

Georgian Mahogany rolltop desk, with finely fitted interior.

One-piece mahogany pedestal writing desk.

19th Century walnut and kingwood, kidney-shaped kneehole desk, the top lined with tooled leather.

Walnut kneehole writing desk with a recessed cupboard and pierced brass handles.

Mid 19th Century Anglo-Indian ivory inlaid kneehole desk.

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