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Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

ART DECO STYLE

Art Deco furniture is characterized by its celebration of modern life. More than its emphasis on natural wood grains and focus on traditional craftsmanship, vintage Art Deco dining chairs, tables, desks, cabinets and other furniture — which typically refers to pieces produced during the 1920s and 1930s — is an ode to the glamour of the “Roaring Twenties.” 

ORIGINS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

CHARACTERISTICS OF ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGN

  • Bold geometric lines and forms, floral motifs
  • Use of expensive materials such as shagreen or marble as well as exotic woods such as mahogany, ebony and zebra wood
  • Metal accents, shimmering mirrored finishes
  • Embellishments made from exotic animal hides, inlays of mother-of-pearl or ivory

ART DECO FURNITURE DESIGNERS TO KNOW

VINTAGE ART DECO FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS

Few design styles are as universally recognized and appreciated as Art Deco. The term alone conjures visions of the Roaring Twenties, Machine Age metropolises, vast ocean liners, sleek typography and Prohibition-era hedonism. The iconic movement made an indelible mark on all fields of design throughout the 1920s and ’30s, celebrating society’s growing industrialization with refined elegance and stunning craftsmanship.

Widely known designers associated with the Art Deco style include Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann, Eileen Gray, Maurice Dufrêne, Paul Follot and Jules Leleu.

The term Art Deco derives from the name of a large decorative arts exhibition held in Paris in 1925. “Art Deco design” is often used broadly, to describe the work of creators in associated or ancillary styles. This is particularly true of American Art Deco, which is also called Streamline Moderne or Machine Age design. (Streamline Moderne, sometimes known as Art Moderne, was a phenomenon largely of the 1930s, post–Art Nouveau.)

Art Deco textile designers employed dazzling floral motifs and vivid colors, and while Art Deco furniture makers respected the dark woods and modern metals with which they worked, they frequently incorporated decorative embellishments such as exotic animal hides as well as veneers in their seating, case pieces, living room sets and bedroom furniture.

From mother-of-pearl inlaid vitrines to chrome aviator chairs, bold and inventive works in the Art Deco style include chaise longues (also known as chaise lounges) and curved armchairs. Today, the style is still favored by interior designers looking to infuse a home with an air of luxury and sophistication.

The vintage Art Deco furniture for sale on 1stDibs includes dressers, coffee tables, decorative objects and more.

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Style: Art Deco
Charles Dudouyt Cubist Inspired Walnut Desk / Dining Table
Located in Van Nuys, CA
Cubist inspired walnut desk in the fashion of designers like Charles Dudouyt with cheery stained hardwood veneer, two-tier stepped top and sharp squared legs.
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1970s American Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Hardwood

Art Deco French Elegant Writing Desk in Macassar
Located in Houston, TX
Beautiful and elegant Art Deco Period French writing desk. Macassar veneer - table desk with shaped top; three drawers underneath. Keyed middle drawer. Resting on tapered and channel...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome

Stunning Burr Elm Green Leather Top Large Twin Pedestal Partner Desk Part Suite
Located in GB
We are delighted to offer this lovely, very well made Burr Elm twin pedestal partner desk with gold leaf embossed green leather writing surface which is part of a suite As mention...
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20th Century English Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Elm

Art Deco Desk by Maurice Adams
Located in Lee-On-The-Solent, GB
A fine Art Deco desk by Maurice Adams, in highly polished walnut. Bow fronted, with four drawers to each side, a central door and a good size cupboard beneath. Quality, silvered hand...
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1930s British Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Art Deco French Grand Desk
Located in Houston, TX
Art Deco table is made out of high quality walnut wood. It composed out of 2 parts/sides with lots of room/drawers for storage. Both sides are connected on the bottom with each other...
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome

Art Deco French Writing Desk in Macassar Wood
Located in Houston, TX
Beautiful and very elegant Art Deco French writing desk. It is made out of Macassar wood and legs are out ebonyzecd wood. Tips of legs are wrapped with brass holders. Desk has 2 spac...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Two Modernist art deco writing tables circa 1930
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Two Modernist art deco writing tables circa 1930
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Carrocel Interiors Art Deco Style Light Walnut Library Table Writing Desk
Located in LOS ANGELES, CA
Carrocel Interiors Art Deco Style Light Walnut Library Table Writing Desk
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1990s Canadian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

1920's Red and Blue Wooden Desk
Located in Brno, CZ
This is a recently restored wooden desk believed to be designed in the 1920’s, with the red and blue colours being the original combination of this piece. The main colour of the tabl...
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1920s Czech Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Art Deco Cherrywood Kneehole Desk
Located in New York, NY
Art Deco Cherrywood Kneehole Desk, Circa 1940. With an inset laminate writing surface and a pullout telephone table, with enamel handles. Dealer: S138XX
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20th Century Unknown Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Cherry

Desk Style Art Deco in Wood and chrome, 1940, Made in Germany
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Only the wood is restored, not the chrome metal It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an icon of...
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1940s German Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Petite Eliel Saarinen Deco Desk
Located in Chicago, IL
A petite scale Eliel Saarinen Deco Desk in Birch with Wave-like Aluminum Pulls. Dimensions: 48 wide 20 depth Height to top shelf: 30 1/16" Height to desk surface: 24.75" Wear as s...
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Mid-20th Century American Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Fine French Blackened Wood Desk with an Off White Lacquered Top with Inlays
Located in Long Island City, NY
A fine French blackened wood desk with 3 drawers, an off white & black lacquered top with metal Inlays, and bronze handles and wheels.
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass, Bronze

Desk, 1950, Materials: Wood and Bronze, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1940 Material: Wood and bronze It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique....
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

1930s French Art Deco Limed Oak and Leather Desk in the manner of Jacques Adnet
Located in London, GB
A modernist Art Deco desk in limed oak with partially clad oxblood leather top. With clean lines and simple brass drawer pulls, very much in the manner of Jacques Adnet or Eugene Pri...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Desk Style Art Deco in Wood and chrome, 1940, Made in Germany
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
Only the wood is restored, not the chrome metal It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an icon of...
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1940s German Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome

Desk Style Art Deco in Wood, 1940, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1940 It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an icon of distinct...
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Carved Oak Desk, England circa 1920
Located in Culver City, CA
Carved Oak Desk England circa 1920 Detailed carving, with single drawer on both sides, lower shelf and lion feet. 48.25”L x 30”d x 31”h Ref. TABLE1191
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1920s English Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Desk in Wood, 1920, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk Book: Buenos Aires Art Deco y Racionalismo Author: Mimi Bohm Page: 68 Year: 1920 It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exo...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Dakota Jackson French Art Deco Postmodern Mahogany Executive Partners Desk 96"
Located in Dayton, OH
Vintage Dakota Jackson post modern Art Deco style executive partners desk featuring mahogany with leather insert and stainless steel frame. A V-Shape pattern veneer top with Black Leather inset. 2 pedestal cabinets below: each with 2 standard drawers and 1 file drawer, front and back. Polished Stainless Steel drawer pulls, post, floor plates, and arced trestle supporting desktop. DJ Chelsea Black Leather, Polished Polyresin finish. Dakota Jackson (born August 24, 1949) is an American furniture designer known for his eponymous furniture brand, Dakota Jackson, Inc.,[1] his early avant-garde works involving moving parts or hidden compartments,[2][3] and his collaborations with the Steinway & Sons piano company.[1] Jackson helped establish the art furniture movement in 1970s SoHo,[4][5] later becoming a celebrity designer in the 1980s.[6][7][8] His background in the world of stage magic helped him get his first commissions and is often cited as the source of his point-of-view.[6][9] Early life Dakota Jackson was born on August 24, 1949, and grew up in the Rego Park neighborhood of Queens, New York. Stage Magic Jackson's father, Jack Malon, was a professional magician.[10] Mr. Malon learned the trade from his own father, who studied stage magic in early 20th century Poland.[1] Jackson began studying magic at a young age and sometimes performed with his father.[11] Jackson's name, in fact, grew out of a road trip to Fargo, North Dakota.[11] Throughout his adolescence and into his early 20s, Jackson immersed himself in the world of magic.[2] In 1963, Jackson began to perform in talent shows at his junior high school, William Cowper JHS 73 (which is known today as The Frank Sansivieri Intermediate School),[12] and at children's birthday parties.[13] Jackson also began to build his own props, including large boxes for sawing a woman in half and small boxes from which doves would emerge in full flight.[11] Jackson acknowledges the importance of these early experiences with magic to his later career as a furniture designer: "The demands of performance taught me how to discipline myself to achieve aesthetic ends."[1][2][14] After Jackson graduated from Forest Hills High School in 1967, he continued performing as a magician, working in art galleries, night clubs, touring in the Catskills, and giving private performances at society events.[2][13][15] When he was 17, Jackson had studied with magician Jack London to learn the dangerous bullet catch trick.[16] "What appealed to me was the notion of doing things that appeared miraculous" Jackson once recalled.[6] "I was interested in spiritualism. I was interested in things like bullet catching, things that really challenged individual sensibilities, that were frightening, on the edge."[2] He didn't find the opportunity to perform the trick publicly until a decade later at Jackson's final professional performance as a magician.[1] It was documented in Andy Warhol's Interview (magazine), in a story titled "Dakota Jackson bites the bullet."[1][16] Jackson admits that he sometimes tires of references to his magician background, although he acknowledges it as an important part of his history.[2] The Downtown Arts Scene In the late 1960s, Jackson moved into a loft on 28th Street in Chelsea.[1][17] Jackson became part of the Downtown scene, a community of "artists, dancers, performers, and musicians" who moved to the neighborhood for the cheap rent and social life.[1][8][17][18] In October 1970, Jackson performed with the Japanese group Tokyo Kid Brothers at New York's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (also known as Café La MaMa) in a rock musical production called "Coney Island Play" ("Konī airando purē).[19] The show explored themes of cross-cultural communication and understanding[19] and was a follow up to the group's debut performance of "The Golden Bat" at La MaMa earlier that summer.[20][21][22] Jackson played the part of a "clever conjurer."[19] Over the next few years, Jackson became interested in minimalist dance and performed in the dance companies of Laura Dean and Trisha Brown.[2][15][23] Jackson credits his exposure to minimalism and minimalist dance in particular as having had a strong influence on his approach to design; in 1989, Jackson told the Los Angeles Times: For me the essential fineness of a design is in the idea, not the object itself ... In minimalism, the object is pared down to its basic meaning by stripping away all the excrescence ... —those elements that do not contribute to the pure idea.[24] Design career In the early 1970s, as he experimented with performance and dance, Jackson began branching out as a special effects consultant to other magicians, film producers, and musicians[2][23] such as Donna Summer.[6][9] The loft also gave Jackson an opportunity to apply his creativity and building skills: "These were times when lofts were not ... luxury condominiums. These were tough, tough raw spaces ... and we artists, bohemians, creative people, we created our environment. So I had to build".[17][25] Recognizing his skills as a builder, Jackson decided to shift away from performance and become a full-time maker.[1][15][17] He began making a variety of objects, including furnishings for other artists and magic boxes with hidden compartments for art collectors and galleries.[17][24] Jackson's social connections helped spread word about his work[15] and this led to his first commissions.[1] Early Commissions Desk for John Lennon by Dakota Jackson In 1974, Jackson's career as a designer began when Yoko Ono asked him to build a desk with hidden compartments for husband John Lennon.[26] "She wanted to make a piece of furniture that would be a mystical object; that would be like a Chinese puzzle," Jackson recalled in a 1986 interview published in the Chicago Tribune.[6] The result was a small cubed-shaped writing table with rounded corners reminiscent of Art Deco era style.[15] Touching secret pressure points opened the desk's compartments.[23] This commission helped build Jackson's reputation and allowed him to merge his experience as a magician and performer with his developing interest in furniture.[27] In 1978, a bed designed for fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg garnered Jackson even more notoriety.[8][10][28] [29] Called "The Eclipse", the bed was described in The New Yorker as "large, astounding, sumptuous, with sunbursts of cherry wood and quilted ivory satin at head and foot."[10] A lighting system positioned behind the headboard switched on automatically at sunset and spread out rays of light "like an aurora borealis,"[2][17] which grew brighter and brighter until turning off at 2 am.[23][30] Commissions like these continued to come in[8] and Jackson soon became known as a designer to the rich and famous.[30] Some of his other clients from this period included songwriter Peter Allen, Saturday Night Live creator and producer Lorne Michaels, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, and soap opera actress Christine Jones.[8] The American Art Furniture Movement and the Industrial Style In the late 1970s, Jackson was among a small group of artists and artisans producing and exhibiting hand-made furniture in New York.[5][31] Jackson and his peers were part of the "American Art Furniture Movement," a group sometimes called the "Art et Industrie Movement,"[32] named after the leading art furniture gallery of the era,[32] Art et Industrie, founded by Rick Kaufmann in 1976.[33] In a 1984 Town & Country article titled "Art You Can Sit On," Kaufmann said he created the gallery to "serve as a locus to the public for artists and designers creating new decorative arts."[31] The works on display were "radical objects" that drew from a number of fine art traditions, including "Pop, Surrealism, Pointillism and Dada [which were] "thrown together with the severe lines of the Bauhaus and the Russian avant-garde, mixed with Mondrian's color and filtered through a video sensibility—all to create a new statement."[31] The article described Jackson as a "ten-year veteran of the genre" and pointed to the "clean forms and quiet colors" of his furniture.[4] Jackson showed a variety of industrial-looking lacquer, metal, and glass works at Art et Industrie, including his Standing Bar (also known as the Modern Bar),[33] a lacquered cabinet that Jackson designed in 1978 for his wife (then-girlfriend) RoseLee Goldberg.[13] Other works from this period include the T-Bird Desk, Self-Winding Cocktail Table, and the Saturn Stool...
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Late 20th Century Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Stainless Steel

Art Deco Burr Walnut Pedestal Desk
Located in London, GB
A magnificent Art Deco burr walnut pedestal desk. This was made in England, it dates from around the 1920-30’s. The quality is outstanding, this is a large and impressive size. Ther...
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1920s British Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Leather, Walnut

Desk Art Deco in Wood, 1930, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1930 Material: wood It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an i...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Desk in Wood, 1920, Sign: Made in France 7382
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk Sign: Made in France 7382 Year: 1920 It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an icon ...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Art deco office writing table
Located in Banská Štiavnica, SK
Art deco office writing table in very good condition with signs of use.
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1930s Slovak Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Big Jeweler Style Art Deco in Wood, 1920, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1920 It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an icon of distinct...
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

1960s Italian Art Deco Mid-Century Walnut Brass Glass Top Desk Writing Table
Located in Carimate, Como
Very elegant Italian Mid-Century Modern small desk or writing table with stylish legs and veneer wood with two drawers. This beautiful piece is completed by the glass top and the bra...
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Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Art Deco Desks in Wood, 1930, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1930 Material: wood It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it unique. It is an ...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Carrocel Interiors Art Deco Style Figured Walnut Office Desk
Located in Forney, TX
A high quality custom made walnut contemporary writing desk by luxury furniture maker Carrocel Interiors. Styled in timeless Art Deco Modern tas...
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Late 20th Century Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Dressing table in White Rock Crystal and Brass by Ginger Brown
Located in Bourguebus, FR
This dressing table has 4 drawers and it is made of white rock crystal marquetry with brass trims. The 4 feet are in brass. 2 drawers on the right side, 1 drawer in the center and 1...
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21st Century and Contemporary French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Rock Crystal, Stone, Brass

Asymmetric Rounded 1930s French Art Deco Desk in Black Lacquer with Special Lock
Located in Ulm, DE
Desk Piano lacquer, black high gloss Special feature: the lock sits in the body, not in the drawers as usual. Original Art Deco, France, 1930s. Dimensions: Width: 120 cm Height: 77...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

Fine French Art Deco Palisander Desk and Chair by Robert Bloch
By Athelia by Robert Bloch
Located in Long Island City, NY
Robert Bloch for Studio Athelia - A fine French Art Deco rosewood secretary desk with a flip top, four drawers, refined chrome hardware (the top can be ...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome

Executive desk in Macassar ebony by Pander & zn, Netherlands 1930s
Located in ECHT, NL
High quality custom made executive desk. Made from solid Macassar ebony and Macassar ebony veneer. The front has two glass sliding doors with a thick glass shelf. It has one door on ...
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Early 20th Century Dutch Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Ebony, Macassar

Art Deco Handmade Desk
Located in Hudson, NY
This charming Art Deco wooden desk features clean lines and open shelving. Handmade by a craftsman, keeping in theme with artsy and elegant deco v...
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Mid-20th Century North American Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Plywood

Desk in the Style of Art Deco in Black Piano Lacquer
Located in Ulm, DE
Modernist desk in black lacquer Writing desk Piano lacquer, high gloss black Metal fittings in Art Déco style, France around 1950 Dimensions: Width: 180 cm Height: 78 cm Depth: 90 cm
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1950s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Metal

France Desk Art Deco, 1950, France, Material: Wood Attributed to Jean Souvrain
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk Style: Art Deco Year 1940 Wood and bronze Finish: polyurethanic lacquer. It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood...
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1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

charming 1920thies writing desk or console birch and walnut with carved flowers
Located in Weiningen, CH
charming 1920thies writing desk or console oak and walnut with carved flowers. May also be used as dressing table has a mirror with 2 drawers.
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1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

1930s French Art Deco Desk in Black Lacquer with Nickeled Metal Applications
Located in Ulm, DE
Desk Piano lacquer, black high gloss Metal applications, freshly nickel-plated Non-functional drawers on the back Original Art Deco, France 1930s Dimensions: Width: 130 cm Height: ...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Metal

French Art Deco Oak and Steel Writing Table Desk, France, circa 1930
Located in New York, NY
A highly unique French Art Deco writing table /desk with stunning geometric form. The rectangular surface is supported by triangular shaped wood bases and connected to the top by tr...
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1930s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Steel

Fully restored Large ART DECO writing desk, 1930´s, Bohemia
Located in Prague 8, CZ
This ART DECO writing desk was made in the former Czechoslovakia in the 1930´s. The table has a simple and unconventional design typical of the ART DECO period. The table is double-s...
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Mid-20th Century Czech Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Glass, Wood, Walnut

Macassar Ebony Art Deco Amsterdamse School Desk by Daniel van Dorp for Reens
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Magnificent and ultra rare Art Deco Amsterdamse School desk. Design by Daniel van Dorp for Gebroeders Reens Amsterdam. Striking Dutch design from the 1920s. Solid macassar ebony with...
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1920s Dutch Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Faux Leather, Macassar

Vienna Art Deco Josef Hoffman Manner Eight-Piece Salon Suite Set
Located in Forney, TX
A rare Art Deco period eight-piece study suite set in the manner of famous Austrian architect, designer, and Vienna Secession founder Josef Hoffman (Austria, 1870-1956), circa 1920. Exquisitely handcrafted in Austria in the early 20th century, most likely Vienna, featuring fine quality craftsmanship and solid wood construction, featuring Biedermeier inspired Viennese Art Deco styling of simplicity, strict, geometric lines with minimal surface embellishment, instead of ornamentation putting the focus on high-quality materials. The matching eight-piece set comprising a tanker writing desk with inset leather surface, surmounted with raised gallery fitted with drawers flanking richly figured quilted diamond inlay, rising on double pedestals with locking cupboard doors opening to stacked shelved tray interior, affixed with patinated brass pulls and escutcheons, retaining original keys, finished on all sides so it can be placed anywhere in the room, and paired with a comfortable armchair with upholstered seat and backrest. A large eight door bookcase storage cabinet with original glass panels, adjustable shelves, and cocktail drinks bar slide. A centre card table with rectangular shaped canted corner top featuring inset green baize felt games playing surface, over conforming apron fitted with dovetailed drawers, rising on square column pedestal, surrounded by four upholstered side chairs. PROVENANCE / ACQUISITION: Property from the important Estate of Myra Janco Daniels (1925-2022) Naples, Florida. A legendary business woman, philanthropist, and arts advocate who built the institution known today as Artis—Naples and made Naples a cultural destination. Additional info below. Acquired from highly reputable auction house, Heritage Auctions, Dallas, Texas. Design Signature Auction catalog #8110 Condition Report: Great original antique condition with beautifully aged warm mellow patina. Strong, sturdy and structurally sound. Overall very attractive condition; no significant losses or restorations; wear consistent with over 100 years of age and indicative of use. Delivered cleaned, waxed, hand rubbed polished French patina finish, ready for immediate use and generational enjoyment! ABOUT THE LEGENDARY PREVIOUS OWNER: We normally don't post about the prior owners life, but in the case of Myra Janco Daniels (1925-2022) we felt her incredible story be shared. The arts visionary and advertising Pioneer who helped transform Southwest Florida into a nationally recognized cultural destination, died June 22, three days before her 97th birthday. Daniels was founder and longtime CEO of the Philharmonic Center for the Arts (now Artis-Naples), which since 1989 has brought world-class music, theater, dance, opera, and art to Naples. In 2000, she founded the Naples Museum of Art (now the Baker Museum) on that same campus. After a storied career as an advertising executive in Chicago, Daniels came out of retirement in the early 1980s to spearhead a fund-raising drive for a small classical music ensemble on MarCo Island, which would later become the Naples Philharmonic orchestra. She discovered “a great hunger for the arts,” she later wrote, and soon expanded her fundraising goal to building a permanent home for the orchestra and an arts center for Southwest Florida. Daniels’ vision for the Philharmonic Center was ambitious and unusual – combining world-class performing and visual arts in a single venue. The Community strongly supported the concept, and the Phil, as it became known, gave Naples a national arts profile. Then-First Lady Barbara Bush was in attendance on opening night in November 1989. The Wall Street Journal covered the opening. “Myra Daniels is a dreamer. But unlike most dreamers, Myra is a doer,” the late Muriel Seibert, the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, once said of Daniels. While the arts were a lifelong passion for Daniels, her first career was as a groundbreaking advertising executive in Chicago, where she won national Advertising Woman of the Year honors and was among the first women to head a national ad firm. Daniels said that she used some of the same principles learned in her advertising career to sell Southwest Florida on the arts. “You have to believe in what you’re doing and then you have to get people involved to the point that they feel it’s theirs. That’s what we did.” Born Myra Janco in Gary, Indiana, Daniels was raised during the Great Depression by parents who encouraged her interest in the arts. But her greatest influence growing up was her grandmother Sophie, who, like Daniels, stood only five feet tall but dreamed big. “Sophie showed me what was possible,” Daniels wrote. “Create something that people want and need and you’ll be successful, she said. I always remembered that.” Her grandmother, who ran her own real estate business, experienced some failures “but she always dusted herself off and went back out there swinging. She wanted me to be that way too.” Daniels earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Indiana State and later became an associate professor of marketing at Indiana University, the first woman to hold that position. In her mid-20s, she started Wabash Advertising in Terre Haute, Indiana, which later became affiliated with larger agencies in Chicago and Cleveland. In 1963, she was named executive vice president of Roche, Rickard, Henri, Hurst, Inc. in Chicago. The National Advertising Federation honored Daniels as its Advertising Woman of the Year in 1965, the youngest woman to receive the award. That same year, she became president of a new national agency that she formed with ad man Draper Daniels. The merger was not just a professional one. Draper Daniels, who was responsible for many famous ad campaigns at the time, including the Marlboro Man and was later an inspiration for the Don Draper character on TV’s Mad Men, became her husband in 1967. Myra wrote about their unusual courtship and life together for Chicago magazine, in an article entitled “I Married a Mad Man,” which was included in her book Secrets of a Rutbuster. They ran the Draper Daniels, Incorporated agency, as it was called, until 1977. When Draper wanted to retire to Southwest Florida, Myra Daniels reluctantly left Chicago and advertising, and they settled on MarCo Island. But after Draper died of cancer in 1983, Myra turned her energies to the fundraising Campaign that led to the Philharmonic Center Cultural Complex. Daniels served as CEO of the Philharmonic Center from its inception in the 1980s to her retirement in 2011, building the Phil into a $100 million corporation. During that time, the Naples Philharmonic became a nationally recognized orchestra, with a Grammy nomination, CD and appearances on PBS; and the Naples Museum of Art developed an international reputation. The center also helped change people’s perception of Naples, which had been known mostly for its beaches and golfing. In 2005, Naples was named the Best Small Art Town in America in a book that singled out the Phil. More than just an arts venue, the Philharmonic Center also wove the arts into the culture of the Community, providing public school programs, adult and children’s education classes and workshops, and free concerts throughout Southwest Florida. Edward Villella, legendary dancer with the New York City Ballet and founder of Miami City...
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Early 20th Century Austrian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

1960s Italian Art Deco Midcentury Walnut Marble Slant Front Desk Table Secretary
Located in Carimate, Como
Very elegant Italian Art Deco Mid-Century Modern folding slant front desk writing table secretaire, in beautiful wood with three drawers. This beautiful piece is completed by the whi...
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Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Art Deco Desk Table with Two faces and Two levels
Located in Miami, FL
Art Deco Desk in Burl Walnut. Beautiful Desk with two faces. In one side you can use like a desk, with five drawers and three compartments to organize your work,. In the other side y...
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Mid-20th Century French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Ebony, Burl

1930s Art Deco Raymond Patten Signed Industrial Kitchen Work Table
Located in Forney, TX
A fabulous original American Art Deco industrial Smartline kitchen work table, designed by Raymond Patten (American, 1897-1948), retailed by Internation...
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Early 20th Century American Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome, Enamel, Stainless Steel

Art Deco Walnut, Birch and Beech Writing Desk, Brianza, Italy
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy, 1940s. It's made in walnut, birch and beech. This desk was probably realized in Brianza, due to its amazing manufacture. It might show slight traces of use since it's ...
Category

1940s Italian Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Beech, Birch, Walnut

Art Deco Table by J. Halabala
Located in Kraków, Małopolska
Art Deco table by J. Halabala from 1940s. Art Deco table by the famous Czech designer J. Halabala, 1940. Jindrich Halabala, (a Czech designer ranked among the most outstanding creat...
Category

1930s Czech Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Walnut

Jean Pascaud Art Deco French Black Lacquered Desk
Located in New York, NY
French Art Deco black lacquered desk featuring an indented rectangular top pinched at the corners highlighted by the central pullout drawer, standing on 4 shaped andtapered, smoothly...
Category

20th Century French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Lacquer

Art Deco Office Desk Nut
Located in Kraków, Małopolska
We present Art Deco desk from 1940. Every piece of furniture that leaves our workshop from the beginning to the end is subjected to manual renovation, so as to restore its original ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Czech Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Oak

Frank Lloyd Wright 605 Allen Table by Cassina
Located in Dronten, NL
Rare early 605 Allen table in cherrywood, designed in 1917 by Frank Lloyd Wright and made by Cassina. Marked with Cassina stamp, early serial no. and Frank L...
Category

20th Century American Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Cherry

Waring & Gillow 1932 Antiqued Hand Painted Beige Bronze Patterns Dressing Table
Located in Pulborough, GB
We are delighted to offer for sale this Waring & Gillow 1932 Antiqued Hand Painted Dressing Table. An antiqued hand-painted dressing tab...
Category

20th Century British Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Paint

Oak Art Deco Modernist Writing Table by Hendrik Wouda for Pander, 1924
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Magnificent and ultra rare Art Deco Modernist writing table. Design by Hendrik Wouda for H. Pander & Zonen Den Haag. Striking Dutch design from 1924.Solid oak and original oak veneer...
Category

1920s Dutch Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Desk in Wood and chrome, France, 1940
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
"Free shipping in florida" It was exhibited at Palm beach "American International Fine Art Fair (AIFAF)" Desk Year 1940 French Wood and chrome Finish: polyurethanic lacquer It is an ...
Category

1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Chrome

French Art Deco Desk in Pommelle Sapelle
Located in Paddock Wood Tonbridge, GB
An exceptional quality French Art Deco desk, produced around 1925 using solid Pomelle Sapele the desk has five drawers with bronze handles and crisply carved detail, the desk is free...
Category

1920s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Other

1940s Art Deco Mid-Century Italian Walnut Wood and Brass Writing Desk Table
Located in Carimate, Como
Very elegant Italian Art Deco Mid-Century Modern desk writing table, with black glass top and beautiful 4 side carved legs and junctions with two floating side drawers drawers comple...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Oak Art Deco Modernist Partner Desk by Hendrik Wouda for Pander, 1924
Located in Amsterdam, NL
Magnificent and ultra rare Art Deco Modernist partner desk. Design by Hendrik Wouda for H. Pander & Zonen Den Haag. Striking Dutch design from ...
Category

1920s Dutch Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Rare French Art Deco Writing Table / Desk in Teak c. 1925, style of Andre Groult
Located in New York, NY
Elegant and Timeless French Art Deco Writing Table / Desk in Teak Wood circa 1925. This rare and original piece has an exquisite sense of line, form and volume that creates a dramati...
Category

Early 20th Century French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Teak

Desk Art Deco, 1940, Materials: Wood and Bronze, Made in France
Located in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, C
French Desk style: Art Deco Year: 1940 Material: Wood and bronze It is an elegant and sophisticated dream desk. The quality of the furniture and the exotic wood used make it uni...
Category

1940s French Vintage Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Bronze

Art Deco Ebonized Pearwood Two-Tier Tambour Top Writing Desk
Located in New York, NY
Art Deco ebonized pearwood writing desk with a tambour roll top upper section concealing four pairs of interior drawers with diamond pattern inlaid burl wood fronts surrounding a bro...
Category

20th Century French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood, Leather, Fruitwood

Art Deco desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a broad range of unique Art Deco desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs. Many of these items were first offered in the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artisans have continued to produce works inspired by this style. If you’re looking to add vintage desks and writing tables created in this style to your space, the works available on 1stDibs include tables, case pieces and storage cabinets and other home furnishings, frequently crafted with metal, brass and other materials. If you’re shopping for used Art Deco desks and writing tables made in a specific country, there are Europe, France, and Italy pieces for sale on 1stDibs. While there are many designers and brands associated with original desks and writing tables, popular names associated with this style include R & Y Augousti, Carlo Colombo, Elie Saab, and Hommes Studio. It’s true that these talented designers have at times inspired knockoffs, but our experienced specialists have partnered with only top vetted sellers to offer authentic pieces that come with a buyer protection guarantee. Prices for desks and writing tables differ depending upon multiple factors, including designer, materials, construction methods, condition and provenance. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $770 and tops out at $200,000 while the average work can sell for $8,620.

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