Antique French and Italian Desks (1715-1770)
Louis XV kingwood bureau plat with serpentine top.
In France, about 1715, the bureau-Mazarin with eight legs and banks of drawers is replaced, probably by Boulle, with the bureau plat (flat-topped writing-table) on four cabriole legs with only three drawers set in line in the frieze, the centre one slightly recessed. [...]

DESKS: CYLINDER AND TAMBOUR
About 1780 onwards
Both terms are used to describe any desk with a superstructure enclosed by a half- or quarter-round sliding lid which disappears into the structure when lifted. A cylinder top has a continuous smooth surface; a tambour is slatted. This type of desk originated in France a little earlier.
Early examples (about [...]

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 [...]

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