DESKS  Victorian, Edwardian Pedestal
A handsome burr walnut pedestal desk with superstructure including a sloping writing surface, drawers and a turned baluster gallery. A type of desk once rather despised for its superstructure, which was often
removed to convert the piece into a flat-topped pedestal desk of more Georgian appearance. Now, however, the form is coming into its own as a genuine Victorian one with its own usefulness. 1855-1885
A mahogany cylinder bureau with a kneehole. The pedestals each have three drawers and under the sliding tambour there is a writing surface with six small drawers and letter compartments. It is a type illustrated in
several catalogues of the 1870s and 1880s, although the design goes back to earlier George III forms. This is a very plain version. 1870-1890
The Victorian era was a great boom time for the pedestal desk, which was clearly much more popular for a long time than the fall-front or cylinder bureau. Not only for domestic use but also for equipping the thousands of offices which developed throughout the industrial scene, this form was adaptable to several varieties and types of wood. On the whole, oak and mahogany prevailed due to their endurance. Walnut and other woods, apart from pine, tend to be more highly valued for this reason.
The desk was made and reproduced throughout the entire period covered by this book (and still is). Where possible, approximate dates have been shown but some types such as ‘Georgian partners’ or ‘Chippendale’ can be very difficult to date precisely.
A highly decorated Reformed Gothic desk in a style which brings Burges, Seddon, Talbert and Eastlake to mind. Burges and Seddon would go for such lavish decoration; all of them would use the diagonal planking and pillared columns with central collars. It is interesting to compare this version of Gothic with that of ‘Chippendale’ shown in no. 325 in this section. 1860-1870
The designer of this pedestal desk has imbibed more than a little of the spirit of Reformed Gothic  note the panelled sides and slightly ‘revealed’ construction, with shaped feet.
A mahogany pedestal desk of a type made fairly continuously throughout Victoria’s reign and onwards to the present day. There is a tooled leather top, three drawers in the frieze and three drawers in each pedestal.
The moulded edge is a fairly bold type and so is the thumb nail moulding around the base.
A plain mahogany pedestal partners’ desk of large dimensions  three feet by six feet  with drawers in each opposing side, the concept being that the two partners involved could work at the same desk, facing each
other.
1870-1890 but a type made on into the present day
A carved oak pedestal desk with characteristic lion-mask carved handles to the drawers. The late Victorians and Edwardians were fond of carved oak  a taste for the medieval transmitted to them by the work of the
Gothic reformers, who would have hated this piece. 1895-1915
A further version of a carved oak pedestal desk with lion-mask carved handles. The ‘Elizabethan’ effect has been taken a stage further by the inclusion of reeded bulbs on the legs. More carving has been packed on in
foliage form and the top edge is also carved with leaf forms.
A mahogany partners’ pedestal desk on carved serpentine bracket feet in ‘Chippendale’ style. The canted corners are carved with leaf and foliage decoration and the top edge is gadrooned. The top is inset with tooled leather. A straightforward high quality piece which states that it is reproduction from the carved decoration.
A mahogany cylinder bureau or pedestal desk on serpentine feet with a pierced brass gallery rail around the top. The piece is inlaid with marquetry of 18th century inspiration (Adam, Hepplewhite and Sheraton all
spring to mind) including the splendid central vase in an oval panel on the cylinder front and swags, husks, leaf and floral decoration elsewhere. It has been said of other ‘Edwardian Sheraton’ pieces that the craftsmen
of this period had a tendency to over-egg the pudding and this piece is inclined towards an example of this trait. There is just a bit too much decoration, a tendency to flashiness which distinguishes the piece from its
18th century original. A handsome piece, nevertheless, requiring some first class craftmanship to execute.
1890-1910
A mahogany pedestal desk in the early Georgian manner, with clustered columns on the pedestal corners and Gothic blind fret tracery around the frieze. There are three drawers in the frieze on the viewed side, with
three drawers in each pedestal below. The out-of-view side has three drawers in the frieze and cupboards below  an arrangement normally fitted to a ‘Partners’ desk but in fact allowing the desk to be viewed
favourably from both sides. The quality of workmanship and carving is high  note the carved moulded edge to the top and the plinth around the base. 1920-1940
A walnut ‘Queen Anne’ kneehole desk, made as an accurate reproduction of a period piece. The top is quarter veneered and the drawers have a diagonal banding and lip moulding round the edges. The pierced handles
are a little late in design for the period of the desk, but otherwise the proportions and restraint of the veneers are a good copy. 1920-1930
right) A somewhat 1930s interpretation in the use of matched figures walnut veneers on the drawer fronts but without excessive over-figure or burring (’Queen Anne’ versions of pedestal desks, with feather banding,
etc., etc., were not uncommon in the 1930s). The choice of ring handles, however, if original, is odd.
An inlaid mahogany kidney-shaped pedestal desk or writing table in the Sheraton manner, with boxwood inlaid stringing lines and set on square tapering legs ending in brass castors. The top is inset with tooled leather.
The kidney-shaped desk is a perennial favourite and can often be highly decorative, with burr veneers and marquetry adding enormously to value.
A rather spindly cabriole-legged writing table-cum-pedestal desk, half way between either definition, which shows how, in Edwardian times, there was a movement towards versions of the ‘Queen Anne’ style which
heralded the outburst of burrs and cabrioles of the 1920s. In this case the decoration of the drawers is late 18th/early 19th century Sheraton in origin, whereas the legs are somewhat apologetic cabrioles, i.e. a version of an early 18th century style. The piece is in mahogany, which is not a Queen Anne wood. 1900-1910
A high quality mahogany pedestal desk, on square tapering legs, with inlaid boxwood stringing lines. There is a brass gallery rail about four inches high at the back, which has a diamond-pattern fret. By using the
stringing lines to describe panels on the drawer fronts and facings of the frame, the makers have managed to convey the impression of a restrained, quality piece. c.1900
A mahogany half-pedestal desk of Sheraton style with drawers banded in satinwood. The top is inset with tooled leather.
Figured walnut and cabriole legs  a 1920s pedestal desk of considerable quality, showing the onset of the modified Queen Anne styles which became so popular. This is a slightly more modernised approach
than the slavish copies of the style that were prevalent. 1920-1930

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DESKS About 1620-1680
The Pilgrim period: Desks in the sense of specialized, substantial pieces of furniture are virtually unknown, but a portable writing-slope of the kind used since the Middle Ages is commonplace.
A shallow box about 24 inches wide, 20 inches deep and 12 inches high (60 cm by 51 cm by 30 cm), with sloping lid hinged at the top to a fixed ledge.
Oak, pine, walnut or any other available timber, about 1/2 inch/1.75 cm thick.
Early examples nailed, later ones jointed with coarse dovetails at the corners. Lid attached by wrought-iron strap hinges.
Scroll, arcaded or floral patterns carved or incised. Painted flowers and figures.
If not painted, oiled and waxed.
It is often difficult to distinguish rare American examples from relatively plentiful British ones. Too high a price should not be paid for what is claimed as Americana, without convincing proof. Not outrageously expensive unless elaborately decorated and/or with sound provenance.
DESKS About 1680-1760
As the American colonies become more prosperous, more people became literate and in need of better facilities for writing. Desks as pieces of standing furniture begin to appear in the late 17thC.
Simplified baroque giving way, after 1740, to restrained rococo. Types:
I The desk on a stand with ’slant’ (sloped) fall, hinged at its lower edge to provide a writing-surface on its interior surface, instead of the exterior as in the writing-slope. The stand was separate at first, attached from 1720, with turned legs 1680-1720, cabriole from 1720.
2 The fall-front secretary-desk (from 1700) with vertical fall and drawers below; an example made in 1707 by E. Evans is the earliest known signed piece of Philadelphia furniture.
3 The slant-front desk with drawer below that developed in the early 18thC.
4 The slant-front secretary-desk with bookcase above. Pennsylvania produced this type in William and Mary style, with double dome top, 1700-30.
Before 1750, secretary-desks had wooden panels or mirror glass in the doors. Some have been modified by replacing these with clear glass, thus reducing the interest and commercial value.
Portable wrting slope Queen Anne walnut slant-front desk on stand, about 1760.
Oak, maple, walnut, pine, cherry; after 1730, mahogany from San Domingo and Cuba; after 1750, from Honduras. Secondary woods used for drawer-linings and (after 1720) as foundation for veneers  pine for oak exteriors, oak for mahogany exteriors.
Mortise-and-tenon joints secured with hardwood pegs (see p. 236) on early work and on later country-made pieces. From the early 18thC, fine dovetails for drawers, most other joints (e.g. mortise-and-tenon) concealed in best quality work. Carcases on bracket feet or dwarf cabriole legs; after 1730, claw-and-ball.
Carving on mahogany items, for example, claw-and-ball feet, reached a high standard.
Early-18thC: Burr walnut, maple veneer; japanning on Boston secretary-cabinets.
Enormous range, and age not always the criterion. Starting relatively low for a plain pine slant-front, rising to dizzy heights for a fine mahogany secretary desk. A good 1750 example may be dearer than a poorly-proportioned one of 1720.
DESKS About 1760-1785
Chippendale period: American makers achieve distinctive character and quality. Some work signed or labelled.
Right, Chippendale-style mahogany desk and bookcase, about 1765-1780.
Many plain slant-front desks, but also block-front types with shell decoration, at their best in Newport, Rhode Island, where the interrelated Townsend and Goddard families dominated production. In Boston, Coggswell made secretary desks with bonnet tops and ‘kettle’ (bombs) bases.
Mahogany, maple. Oak and other secondary woods as drawer-linings. Mahogany was used for lining very small drawers only, until late 19thC.
Drawer-fronts shaped to follow ‘block’ outline; ogee curve to bracket feet.
Concave shell motifs carved out of solid convex shells carved separately and applied to surfaces. Exaggerated shells on New Hampshire versions.
Surfaces varnished, sanded and waxed.
Block front types very expensive. Slant fronts, plain design, much cheaper.
Top, pegged construction; above, fine dovetails in drawer construction.
DESKS About 1785-1810
Federal period: Independence having been gained, the return to normal life fostered a desire for new furniture.
Right, secretary bookcase in mahogany, rosewood and maple, about 1810.
In New England, regional types continued. In New York and Philadelphia, Hepplewhite, Shearer and Sheraton designs favoured straight lines, ovals, circles; splay feet and classical pediments.
Mahogany from Honduras, pale yellow satinwood from West Indies.
heur-du-jour (lady’s desk) on tapered legs, with flat writing surface and superstructure of small cupboards. Seymour of Boston made similar type with the superstructure enclosed by tambour front (flexible shutter constructed with narrow fillets of wood glued to a linen backing, running in grooves).
Husks, urns and swags in marquetry.
Drawer-front lowered to form writing-surface.
Right marquetry decoration, about 1790.
The Philadelphia secretary desk had a writing-section disguised as a drawer, with cupboards above and below. The ‘Salem secretary’  a speciality of Nehemiah Adams  has a bookcase above with clear glass doors divided by curved astragals, resting on a base with a pair of cupboards flanking a secretaire drawer over a kneehole. Baltimore produced a bon-
Figured mahogany and satinwood veneers. Polishing with shellac dissolved in spirit (French polish) after 1800.
Wide range and greater quantity offer better choice, but expect to pay for quality and elegance.

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Queen Anne secretaire

The increasing skill of the cabinet-maker and the change in style to loftier and more spacious houses brought new variations to antique writing furniture.
Signs of authenticity of Queen Anne secretaire
1. Plinth moulding with matching moulding on joins of component parts.
2. Side veneers matching on component parts.
3. If with serpentine apron incorporating bracket feet, piece made after c.1715.
4. Flush edges to writing flap and doors.
5. Wide-bevelled ‘Vauxhall’ mirrored glass.
6. Oak bearers to support writing flap.
7. Early oak bearers square in section with small brass knobs.
8. Later oak bearers equal in depth to top drawer with small fan-shaped handles.
9. If single door, it always opens left to right.
10. Brass slide fastenings with steel bolts on left-hand door, lock on right.
11. Dust boards between drawers in base.
12. Interior fittings of veneered cabinets and desks usually in oak or walnut, with bone or ivory knobs.
13. Locks and escutcheons to all drawers in base.
14. Only two pin hinges on each cabinet door. top and bottom.
Likely restoration and repair
15. ‘Marriages’ between component parts of several damaged pieces - sides of secretaire are often in a single piece, cut on the joins.
16. ‘Marriage’ when top is proportionately too small for base - a deep ‘bandage’ and bracket feet are often added to increase height.
17. Elaborate cabinet fittings too badly damaged to restore -often replaced with later bookshelf fittings, or with glass-fronted display cabinet.
18. Part or whole of original lacquer flaked and damaged. It is often replaced, repainted with modern materials.
increasing their height with elaborately fitted cabinets surmounted with elegant curves or broken pediments. These pieces were designed. to stand between the high windows of architect-designed houses and were
always tall and slim.
The base of the secretaire consisted of a much smaller fall-fronted or slope-fronted desk with three or four drawers below it. Above, there were block-fronted or mirrored-
glass doors behind which were shelves for books or elaborate arrangements of small drawers and pigeonholes for ledgers and documents. Miniature architectural features such as columns and architraves concealed secret drawers and compartments. Particularly in vogue were lacquered Queen Anne secretaires which have a strong appeal to the copyist.
An antique secretaire was made in two or three separate pieces: the base, the fall-front or slope-fronted desk and the cabinet. Sometimes the desk and base are made in a single piece, sometimes in two, as with early bureaux. The cabinets are always separate, slotting into moulding round the top of the base. They were made in finely figured walnut veneer on close-grained pine carcases, with pine or beech for lacquered versions.
The back of each component part was of relatively thin oak, pine or beech planking, nailed to the carcase. Drawers were of oak or oak and pine. The doors of the cabinet were hung on two pin hinges, and the writing
flap had flush edges with cleated sides and an inset velvet or cloth panel. Bun feet were typical until c.1710, when they were superseded by bracket feet.
The proportions of provincial pieces are not the same as those of their grander counterparts. The writing compartments are usually slope-fronted and deeper. The overall effect makes the secretaire look remarkably
narrow. A block-fronted cabinet was more common than glazed doors, and mirrored doors were the rarest.
Provincial pieces were not as tall as grander versions and frequently lacked a decorative pediment. The finest country examples may have simple architectural moulding and lunettes to bottom drawers of bases, inlaid
with decorative stringing. Similar-shaped desk-and-cabinets were also made with block-fronted doors, with simple walnut veneer on an oak and pine carcase.
Right: secretaire-bookcase, c.1720. Far right: elaborate walnut veneered secretaire, c.1710.
On veneered secretaires, the interior fittings of desk and cabinet were usually made in oak or walnut, frequently with boxwood stringing or bone or ivory inlay. Narrow bands of cross-cut veneer edged the drawers and a broader band framed the writing flap. Lacquered secretaires were equally elaborate and on both veneered and lacquered cabinets the insides of the cabinet doors were as lavishly decorated as the rest of the piece.
Lacquer was often applied to a gesso base, built up in relief for decorative features such as dragons, pagodas, buildings, trees and birds. Red grounds were popular, black less so for secretaires, blue was seldom used and green and yellow only occasionally  the varnish discoloured and dulled them to a dirty khaki.
Reproductions
Some excellently proportioned reproductions are being made today, both lacquered and veneered, particularly for the American market. The methods of construction will be entirely modern, incorporating steamed and bonded woods, even veneered
`Made up’ versions or copies of country-made secretaires are likely to give themselves away by the most fundamental errors.
Original and complete Queen Anne secretaire furniture, unrestored, $20,000-35,000.
Original Queen Anne secretaire, but much restored, $10,000 15,000
Nineteenth century secretaire-bookcase, $1,250-2,000.
Edwardian secretaire furniture, in fine condition, $850-1,250.

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Antique English Furniture - Mahogany and Walnut Bureau

An Edwardian inlaid bureau with cylinder front, c.1905. Eighteenth century and Regency styles became popular at the end of the nineteenth century and this is a good example of Edwardian ‘Sheraton’. The square tapering legs with their thin stringing line end in casters. The inlay of the rosewood drawers and front is however, more profuse, and incorporates Adam motifs, whereas the gallery shows Gothic arching. Beneath the cylinder front, itself a feature of the late eighteenth century, there is a slide which pulls out to provide additional writing space. Highly exportable.
Decorative woods and inlays
A antique country bureau in solid walnut of c.1730. The interior shows the earlier William and Mary influence in the stepped concave drawers and well. The shaped aprons over the pigeon holes are also typical. The exterior drawers and outside of the fall are cross-banded in walnut or fruitwood. The handles are riot original and the bracket feet have been repaired. The drawers are pine lined.
Quality of workmanship, i.e. approximation to contemporary town craftsmanship
Country walnut (solid) bureau of c.1730, again showing William and Mary period influence in the stepped interior, but which is simpler and less refined than the previous example. The stepped drawers for instance are not concave. There is a well and the exterior drawers are again cross-banded in walnut or fruitwood.
A walnut bureau of c.1725-30 furniture, showing the interior, where the stepped design of the William and Mary period has given way to the Georgian straight interior with its corresponding loss of charm. The centre door is flanked by pillars with secret drawers. The interior and exterior drawers are inlaid with boxwood and ebony stringing. The carcase fronts around the drawers are flat veneered and the drawer edges have a ‘lip’ ovolo moulding. There is no interior well; a shallow drawer under the fall occupies this space.
An interesting antique mahogany bureau on stand, c.1740. The style is one which can be traced back to the Queen Anne period, when veneered walnut bureaux of this type, on stands with cabriole legs, were made. The early ones incorporated the stylistic features of the period, with shell carving, quartered veneers and so on. The bureau above has cock-beaded drawers and swan-neck drop handles. The stand has rather provincial cabriole legs ending in pad or club feet and the flat facets at the knee have been left without brackets. A slight relic of former style is in the downward pointed centre apron, which would have been ogee curved or carved on earlier pieces.
The mahogany bureau, c.1740, of the preceding page, shown open. It can be seen that the interior also follows the style of an early period since it is stepped and the pigeon holes have arched shaping at the top, which incorporates the ogee curving of the Queen Anne period. There is no well and the drawer fronts are straight.
A typical mahogany bureau furniture of the rnid and later eighteenth century.The example illustrated here is perhaps a rather boldly wide one but as a type such bureaux, with cock-beaded drawers, were made in large numbers in a variety of sizes throughout the epoch. The mahogany varies in figure and decoration from piece to piece but they are extremely durable and many survive in almost original condition. At present, with walnut and oak making all the running, it could be that they are rather underpriced; the danger is that the larger ones tend to jet’ converted into bureau-bookcases by the addition of a suitable cabinet. Size is, of course, an all-important factor in such pieces.
The mid-eighteenth century antique bureau of the preceding example shown with the fall open. The interior still owes much to earlier styles, with the outer pairs of drawers set forward from the line of the centre; they are not stepped vertically however. The inlaid star decoration and chequered panel line in boxwood and ebony on the centre door also owe their origin to earlier influences but the almost dentilled effect of the frieze under the top edge is of later inspiration. Note that the pillars of earlier designs on either side of the door have been replaced by a fluted surface.
A mahogany bureau-bookcase of c.1750. The bureau section follows the characteristics of ordinary bureaux, with cock-beaded drawers, bracket feet and a straight interior under the fall, with no well. The bookcase section has mirrored doors and a dentil section incorporated in the top edge moulding. This is a simple and undecorated example of fairly broad dimensions.
A small George III period mahogany bureau on ogee bracket feet, c.1770 This is a veneered piece, evidently because the wood is so finely figured and would have been wasteful to use in the solid. There is a chequered stringing line around each cock-beaded drawer and the fall, which are cross-banded. The inside is fitted with pigeon holes and five drawers.
A bureau-bookcase of the Hepplewhite period c.1790, in which the change to the latticed glazed doors instead of mirrors,which took place after the mid-eighteenth century, is demonstrated. A broken arched pediment with pierced fret completes the design above a dentillated moulding. The bureau section reflects the change towards commodes in the chest of drawers field, in that panelled veneered doors enclose the drawers below the fall. The feet are still of bracket type but a shaped apron between them reflects the taste of the last part of the eighteenth century.
Value points: This is an extremely fine example as far as choice of veneers and craftsmanship are concerned, hence the high price scale.
An early nineteenth century mahogany bureau with symmetrical veneers in a vertical grained figure, c.1820. The interior is straight, with pigeon holes and drawers and the sides are of solid mahogany. In the later period the veneered pieces tended to be of better quality, usually lined in oak.
An early nineteenth century antique mahogany bureau on splayed feet with a shaped apron, c.1820. The fall is cross-banded and the drawers have a normal cock-bead. Due to the angle of the photograph the bureau appears to be perched rather high on its legs, but its proportion follows that of the chests of drawers of the same period.
A fine quality mahogany bureau-bookcase furniture, c.1750, with broken pediment above and candle slides beneath the bookcase doors. The bureau section is made of well chosen figured mahogany and the piece appears to feature the unusual characteristics of having the two small upper drawers on either side beneath the fall to act as bearers for the fall when open. The shaping of the mirrored doors to echo the cornice, with its dentil frieze beneath the top moulding, adds considerable quality to the design.

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DESKS: BUREAUX ON STANDS
About 1670-1760
A development of the medieval slope-top box which in the late 17thC was increasingly mounted on a stand, either fixed or as a separate entity. Its hinged flap slopes when closed, forming a flat writing-surface with a knee space below when open. The interior is fitted with small drawers and pigeon-holes for storing writing accessories, papers, and so on.
Largely superseded by the bureau proper (with the base as a chest of drawers) around 1690.
Oak, to about 1690: Separate box with fall supported on square lopers when opened, pulling out from frieze of table-like stand. Sometimes frieze drawer between lopers. Legs of stand turned, with turned or straight horizontal stretchers close to ground. Box slightly overhanging stand.
Early walnut, about 1680-1700: Usually as one piece, with one or two layers of drawers below. Sometimes a shaped apron. Square lopers, either with drawer between, or a blank, fronting ‘well’ accessible from inside by sliding back rear portion of flat interior surface. Sometimes there is an exterior book-rest moulding on fall. Supported on turned tapering legs, often with inverted cup knees; bun feet. Flat and scrolling X-stretchers with central turned finial.
Walnut, about 1700-1715: Usually separate stand with desk sitting within border moulding. Often shaped apron; cabriole legs with pad feet. A type much used as a basis for ‘Queen Anne’ reproductions after 1900, though these have deeper (and sometimes more numerous) drawers. Rare.
Mahogany, about 1725-1760: Separate desk and stand as above. cabriole legs with pad, later claw and ball, feet. Occasionally straight legs after- 1750. Lopers rectangular, of  equal height to drawer(s) between. Rare.
All have plain flat top flush with sides, never-overlapping. Generally a piece of velvet or coarser cloth is glued to a portion of the writing-surface.
Oak, walnut, mahogany. Pine for carcases when veneered, with oak for drawer linings.
Mostly veneered on carcase with through-dovetails. Lapped dovetails after 1700 if solid timber employed; double-lapped at top to disguise join. Mortise-and-tenon joints on framing of stand. Mouldings glued. For drawer con-struction see CHESTS OF DRAWERS.
Decorative veneers and cross-banding on walnut. Occasionally seaweed or floral marquetry. Sometimes carving on frieze and legs of stand when mahogany.
Handles: Drop on oak; small brass knobs, later bails, on walnut. Bails on mahogany.
Decorative surface-mounted escutcheons are seen on all parts until about 1750, replaced on drawers only by skeleton escutcheons around 1750.
Sometimes stain on oak and mahogany; varnish on walnut (to fill grain); both followed by wax polish.
VALUES
No common objects; prices always high, at least in four figures, but reduced by about 60 per cent if stand is wrong. Marquetry, particularly seaweed, definitely a bonus.

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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 door on the bookcase is beautifully veneered in cross-banded effect.
Price Range: E2,000-Z2,500 Value points: See section notes

A burr walnut Queen Anne period bureau-bookcase of fine quality, with a broken pediment showing a fine bold cross grained moulding. The chamfered door mirrors are edged by a thin ‘D’ moulding and beneath the doors the two tiny brass knobs indicate candle slides. The interior shows the pillar flanked door which has a star pattern inlay in boxwood and ebony. The exterior drawers are edged with cock beading and have a herring-bone inlay.
Price Range: $2, 500 - $5, 000 Value points: See section notes

A bureau-bookcase of the Hepplewhite period in which the change to the latticed glazed doors instead of mirrors which took place after the mid-18th century is demonstrated. A broken arched pediment with pierced fret completes the design above a dentillated moulding. The bureau section reflects the change towards commodes in the chest of drawers field, in that panelled veneered doors enclose the drawers below the fall. The feet are still of bracket type but a shaped apron between them reflects the taste of the last part
of the 18th century.
Price Range: $1,500-$2,000
Value points: This is an extremelyfine example as far as choice of veneers and craftsmanship are concerned, hence the high price scale.
See section notes.

A fine quality mahogany mid-18th century bureau-bookcase with broken pediment above and candle slides beneath the bookcase doors. The bureau section is made of well chosen figured mahogany and the piece appears to feature the unusual characteristics of having the two small upper drawers on either side beneath the fall to act as bearers for the fall when open. The shaping of the mirrored doors to echo the cornice, with its dentil frieze beneath the top moulding, adds considerable quality to the design.
Price Range: $500-$700
Value points: See section notes

A country bureau-bookcase of c. 1750 in yew wood with double domed doors and having a narrow drawer on either side under the fall to act as bearers. The interior has pigeon holes and drawers with an unusual centre door let into a well. The sides are left in oak. Evidently a countryman’s version of the town style and possibly made a few years after the latter became fashionable; one could surmise that an attempt at imitating the double-domed walnut pieces of the Queen Anne period is possible.
Price Range: $150-$175
Value points Yew wood

A mahogany bureau-bookcase of mid-18th century date. The bureau section follows the characteristics of ordinary bureaux. with cock-beaded drawers, bracket feet and a straight interior under the fall, with no well. The bookcase section has mirrored doors and a dentil section incorporated in the top edge moulding. This is a simple and undecorated example of fairly broad dimens ions.
Price Range: $230-$320
Value points: See section notes

A George I period walnut bureau-bookcase of heavier proportions. The top of the bookcase shows the deep concave section below the moulding, veneered in crossgrained wood, which was a feature of later pieces of the walnut period. There are candle slides beneath the bookcase doors. The drawers have a lip edge moulding to overlap the flat veneered carcase edges.
Price Range: $1,000-$1,500 Value points: See section notes

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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 ‘Chippendale’ nomenclature.
Price Range: $1,000-$1,200
Value points: Fretted edges
Pronounced mouldings -
Bold sweep of front elevation

A Georgian partner’s desk with red tooled leather insert on the top. These mahogany partner’s desks continued to be made for a considerable period and have been reproduced for many years. The construction of the drawers, with cock beaded edges, and the top edge mouldings are in the same style as other pieces of the period, generally following the library tables of the end of the century.
Price Range: $250-$450
Value points: See section notes

A George II yew wood kneehole secretaire desk cross banded in mahogany. The deep top drawer front opens on a fall to form a secretaire fitted with pigeon holes and small drawers inside. The top is also veneered in yew and cross banded with mahogany.
Price Range: F400-F600
Value points: See section notes

A mahogany kneehole desk of c. 1750 with a broadly moulded top edge. The drawers have a lip moulding around the edge to project over the carcase edges when closed. The bottom moulding above the bracket feet ethos the shape of the top edge and the overall proportion is bold and pleasing. Price Range: $400-$500Value points: See section notes

A quality walnut Queen Anne period kneehole desk with top veneered in quartered pattern with herring-bone inlays. The drawers are cross banded and inlaid with herring-bone pattern. The door inside the knee hole opens to give access to more smaller drawers.
Price Range: $750-$1,000 Value points: See section notes

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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 stand and our two first illustrations show clearly the desk form, overlapping the drawers added beneath and raised on legs which were either made in tapering or turned form. This type of bureau is also seen in the Queen Anne period raised on cabriole legs.
However, the usefulness of including drawer storage space beneath the desk could notbe ignored and the fall-front bureau with drawers beneath appeared also at the end of the 17th century. In some early examples the desk section still also overlaps the drawers beneath, but this soon gave way to the straight type with perhaps a moulding under the desk section to mark the transition. Bureaux of this now conventional type continued to be made, first in walnut,then in ma-. hogany, throughout the 18th century, many in country towns, and reflecting the changing styles of the period.
Bureau-Bookcases also appeared at the end of the 17th century and continued the same development but with leanings towards bookcase styles. The increased height of rooms led to a demand for them. Early bookcases above bureaux either had solid doors or were glazed with Vauxhall glass mirrors, bevelled and, in the finer specimens, engraved.
Value Points
Early walnut bureaux on stands of the type illustrated in our first two examples have now become so rare that little can be said on the subject of value points except that the originality of the legs and stretchers is all-important and makes the difference between the prices shown and less than one half of them.
For bureaux generally however the following value points apply:-1680 - 1740 - The Walnut Period
1. Quality and figure of veneers, colour and patination …
2. Structural condition and originality
3. Herring-bone inlays and cross banding
4. Stringing and other inlays
5. Marquetry
6. Original brass handles and keyhole plates
7. Original Bun or bracket feet
8. Colour (faded) and quality of crossgrained mouldings
9. Size: Width 3′ 0″ or under  Width 2′ 9″ or under - Width 2′ 6″ or under
10. Interior stepped
11. Well
12. Oak drawer linings
For oak and fruitwood examples of this period, value points also apply with particular reference to size, plus the following:-
Choice of figured woods, colour and patination  Quality of mouldings
1730 onwards - The Mahogany Period
It should be remembered that mahogany and walnut periods overlapped each other for about ten years from 1730-1740 and possibly longer. Value points for mahogany bureaux are:-
Quality and choice of figured wood, colour (faded or rich Spanish mahogany) and patination
Structural condition and originality
Original brass handles and keyhole plates
Size:- Width 3′ 0″ or under
Width 2′ 9″ or under
Width 2′ 6″ or under
Interior arrangement
Oak drawer linings  (Normal with good mahogany pieces) Quality of mouldings
Original bracket feet
For oak and fruitwood examples of the period the above points also apply.

A William and Mary period - c. 1690 - walnut bureau of great quality. The tapering octagonal section solid walnut legs terminate in bun feet and the flat, shaped stretcher is also veneered in walnut. The arched shaping of the frieze with its small edge moulding, like a cock bead, is a fine example of the period. The fall front is cross banded and has a herring-bone inlaydividing it into three veneered panels with a cross-grained band between. The drawers are also herring-bone cross banded and there is a double ‘D’ moulding on the carcase edge around them. Note the book or bible-rest moulding on the bottom edge of the fall.
Price Range: E1,500-E2,000
Value points: Original legs and stretchers

William and Mary walnut veneered walnut bureau with solid walnut octagonal tapering legs. c. 1690. The X shaped stretcher is a feature found on tables of the period also, as are the bun feet. The fall front has a herring-bone inlay and cross banding. A half-round or D moulding covers the front edges of the carcase around the drawer fronts, which are herring-bone cross banded.
Price Range: $1, 500-$2,500
Value points: Original legs and stretchers
This is a delightfully small piece of furniture and hence its dimensions add greatly to its value.

An oak bureau of c. 1680 in which the union of the oak desk and a chest of drawers to make one piece of furniture is evident. A moulding still continues round the bottom of the desk section, even round the sides, and above the top drawer. The swan-neck handles are a later addition. The piece has the book or bible-rest moulding on the fall. The mouldings around the drawers and the division of the drawer fronts into panelled halves with a narrow raised centre panel is another contemporary feature which may be seen in the chest section of this book. The bun feet are also probably an original feature although, like the chests, some pieces had feet formed by the continuation of the carcase frame to the floor.
Price Range: $130-$150
Value points: Qualityof mouldings

A walnut bureau of c. 1690, the refined high quality version of the preceding example, made some years later. The style and origin are clear, even to the retention of the moulding around the base of the ‘desk’ section even though unnecessary structurally. The fall is divided into four beautifully matched sections of veneer, with a herring-bone cross banding and this effect is repeated on the drawer fronts. There is a double ‘D’ moulding on the carcase edges around the drawers. The heavy bracket feet are probably original but the handles and escutcheons area later replacement.
Price Range: $400-$500
Value points: Quality of decoration

Another walnut bureau of William and Mary period - c. 1700 - this time open to show the stepped interior with fine concave drawer fronts. The pillars on either side of the centre drawer and pigeon hole can often be withdrawn as a ’secret’ slender vertical drawer. There is a well in the centre interior reached by sliding the surface section in the centre back under the centre drawers. A cross-banded division on the side of the bureau is all that remains of the moulding dividing desk and drawers on the previous examples. The piece againexhibits herring-bone cross bandingaround the drawers and double ‘D’ moulding. The bracket feet, brass handles and escutcheons are probably original.
Price Range: $400-$500
Value points: See section notes

A country bureau in solid walnut of c. 1710. The interior shows the earlier William and Mary influence in the stepped concave drawers and well, The shaped aprons over the pigeon holes are also typical. The exterior drawers and outside of the fall are cross banded in walnut or fruitwood. The handles are not original and the bracket feet have been repaired. The drawers are pine lined.
Price Range: $100-$150
Value points: Quality of workmanship A, e, approximation to contemporary town craftsmanship

Country walnut (solid) bureau of c. 1710 again showing William and Mary period influence in the stepped interior, but which is simpler and less refined than the previous example. The stepped drawers for instance are not concave. There is a well and the exterior drawers are again cross banded in walnut or fruitwood.
Price Range: $I20
Value points: See section notes

A walnut bureau of c. 1725-30 showing the interior, where the stepped design of the William and Mary period has given way to the Georgian straight interior with its corresponding loss of charm. The centre door is flanked by pillars with secret drawers. The interior and exterior drawers are inlaid with boxwood and ebony stringing. The carcase fronts around the drawers are flat veneered and the drawer edges have a ‘lip’ ovolo moulding. There is no interior well; a shallow drawer under the fall occupies this space.
Price Range: $325-$375 Value points: See section notes

An oak bureau of c. 1740 with an unusual drawer arrangement in that there is a long drawer under the fall, thus ensuring that no interior well can be made, and subsequently the normal two short drawers and two long ones. The drawers have an ovolo lip moulding around the edge. The front surfaces of the piece are in fairly straight grained oak without the snaking medullary rays which tend to detract from the surface appearance of the wood. The simple bottom edge moulding and bold bracket feet are typical of country construction.
Price Range: This is a smaller bureau - some 2′ 9″ wide - and therefore price would be affected. E140-P-170

Another oak bureau of mid-18th century date which provides an interesting comparison with the preceding example. The four long drawers are well graduated and have cock beaded edges. The fall, however, is not made of one piece but is of a type often seen in mahogany construction, with a large centre section bounded by two edge pieces with vertical grain running at 90 degrees to thehorizontal main section and with mitre joints at the top corners*. The fall shows medullary rays in profusion. At the base the bracket feet are flush with the faces of the main carcase and a reeded moulding has been applied round the bottom edge.
Price Range: $120-$150 (This is also 2′9″ wide) Value points: See section notes
*Apart from a decorative effect, the purpose of this is in order to have edge mouldings running along the grain instead of across it.

A mahogany bureau of c. 1745 in a dark Spanish or Cuban variety of the wood which was the first type introduced. The later Honduras wood was lighter in weight and colour. The high bold bracket feet and simple proportions belie the much later ring handle replacements on the drawers. The original handles would have been much more in the style of the keyhole plates; in fact the escutcheons or back plates of the handles would have been almost exactly the same. Note the vertical grained veneering of the flat carcase fronts between the drawers and the plain vertically grained veneered sides.
Price Range: $100-$150
Value points: See section notes

A typical mahogany bureau of the mid and later 18th century. The example illustrated here is perhaps a rather boldly wide one but as a type such bureaux, with cock beaded drawers, were made in large numbers in a variety of sizes throughout the epoch. The mahogany varies in figure and decoration from piece to piece but they are extremely durable and many survive in almost original condition. At present, with walnut and oak making all the running it could be that they are rather underpriced; the danger is that the larger ones tend to get converted into bureau-bookcases bythe addition of a suitable cabinet. Size is of course an all-important factor in such pieces.
Price Range : $80-$120
Value points: See section notes

The mid-18th century mahogany bureau of the previous example shown with the fall open. In this bureau the interior has not evolved greatly from earlier styles, being simple and straight fronted with shaped pigeon holes above the small drawers. The centre door is given a panelled effect and the overall style is bold and utilitarian as well as decorative. The centre interior well of the walnut styles has now completely disappeared and the top two short drawers slide immediately under the fall. The bracket feet are in solid mahogany with grain running horizontally as on the drawer fronts.
Price Range: $80-$120

An oak bureau of mid-18th century date with the fall decorated by an inlaid star pattern in boxwood and ebony. This example is unusual in that the front edges are inset with a fluted pillar. The drawers are cock beaded and their handles are not original, being in a later style. The original handles would have been in a shape more in keepingwith the keyhole plates.
Price Range: $65-$85
Value points: See section notes

The mid-18th century bureau of the preceding example shown with the fall open. The interior still owes much to earlier styles, with the outer pairs of drawers set forward from the line of the centre; they are not stepped vertically however. The inlaid star decoration and chequered panel line in boxwood and ebony on the centre door also owe their origin to earlier influences but the almost dentilled effect of the frieze under the top edge is of later inspiration. Note that the pillars of earlier designs on either side of the door have been replaced by a fluted surface.
Price Range: $65-$85

A small George III period mahogany bureau on serpentine bracket feet. This is a veneered piece, evidently because the wood is so finely figured and would have been wasteful to use in the solid. There is achequered stringing line around each cock beaded drawer and the fall, which are cross banded. The inside is fitted with pigeon holes and five drawers.
Price Range: $250-$300
Value points: Serpentine bracket feet

A later 18th century mahogany bureau with symmetrical veneers in a vertical grained figure. The interior is straight, with pigeon holes and drawers and the sides are of solid mahogany. In the later period the veneered pieces tended to be of better quality, usually lined in oak.
Price Range: $75-$100
Value points: See section notes

A late 18th century mahogany bureau on splayed feet with a shaped apron. The fall is cross banded and the drawers have a normal cock bead. Due to the angle of the photograph the bureau appears to be perched rather high on its legs but its proportion follows that of the chests of drawers of the same period.
Price Range: $60-$100
Value points: See section notes

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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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