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 [...]

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

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

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