Bauhaus Chrome Writing Desk
Early 20th Century German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Steel
Early 20th Century German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Early 20th Century German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Metal
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Early 20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1940s French Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1930s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
Vintage 1930s Austrian Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1940s French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
2010s Danish Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Mahogany
2010s Danish Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Oak
2010s Danish Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Wood
2010s Danish Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Leather, Wood
Vintage 1930s German Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
Vintage 1940s German Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1970s German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Laminate
Vintage 1940s German Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
Vintage 1920s French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
2010s German Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s German Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s German Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
2010s German Desks and Writing Tables
Steel
Vintage 1930s French Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Wood
2010s German Bauhaus Desks
Metal, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus More Mirrors
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus More Mirrors
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus More Mirrors
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus More Mirrors
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus More Mirrors
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Sofas
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Sofas
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1930s English Art Deco Desks
Walnut
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Sofas
Metal, Steel, Chrome
Early 20th Century American Art Deco Console Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Sofas
Metal, Chrome, Steel
20th Century German Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Steel
20th Century German Art Deco Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Steel
20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1930s Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
20th Century Czech Bauhaus Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome, Steel
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
Chrome
Vintage 1920s German Art Deco Desk Sets
Belgian Black Marble, Chrome
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Bauhaus Chrome Writing Desk For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Bauhaus Chrome Writing Desk?
A Close Look at bauhaus Furniture
The Bauhaus was a progressive German art and design school founded by the architect Walter Gropius that operated from 1919 to 1933. Authentic Bauhaus furniture — sofas, dining chairs, tables and more — and the school’s followers married industrial and natural materials in simple, geometric forms. The goal of the Bauhaus was to erase the distinction between art and craft while embracing the use of new technologies and materials.
ORIGINS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
- Art and design school established in Germany in 1919
- Promotion of a union of art, craft and technology
- Design intended for mass production
- School’s workshops focused on cabinetry, metalworking, typography, textiles and more
- Informed by De Stijl, Constructivism, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts, and modernism; influenced mid-century modernism, Scandinavian modernism
CHARACTERISTICS OF BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGN
- Emphasis on craft
- Simplicity, order, clarity and a prioritization of functionalism
- Incorporation of geometric shapes
- Minimalist and refined, little to no ornamentation
- Use of industrial materials such as tubular chrome, steel and plastic as well as leather, cane and molded plywood in furniture and other products
BAUHAUS FURNITURE DESIGNERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- László Moholy-Nagy
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
- Anni Albers
- Josef Hoffmann
- Marcel Breuer
- Marianne Brandt
AUTHENTIC BAUHAUS FURNITURE ON 1STDIBS
The name Bauhaus is derived from the German verb bauen, “to build.” Under the school’s innovative curriculum, students were taught the fine arts, such as painting and sculpture, as well as practical skills like carpentry and metalworking.
The school moved from Weimar in 1925 to the city of Dessau, where it enjoyed its heyday under Gropius, then Hannes Meyer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The period from 1932 to 1933 when it operated in Berlin under Mies was its final chapter. Despite its brief existence, the Bauhaus has had an enduring impact on art and design in the United States and elsewhere, and is regarded by many as the 20th century’s chief crucible of modernism.
The faculty roster at the Bauhaus reads like a who’s who of modernist creative genius — it included such artists as Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and László Moholy-Nagy along with architects and designers like Mies and Marcel Breuer, who became known for his muscular brutalist-style concrete buildings in the postwar years. In 1925, while he was head of the Bauhaus carpentry workshop, Breuer gave form to his signature innovation: the use of lightweight tubular-steel frames for chairs, side tables and sofas — a technique soon adopted by Mies and others. Breuer’s Cesca chair was the first-ever tubular steel frame chair with a caned seat to be mass produced, while the inspiration for his legendary Wassily chair, a timeless design and part of the collection crafted to furnish the Dessau school, was the bike he rode around campus.
Bauhaus design style reflects the tenets by which these creators worked: simplicity, clarity and function. They disdained superfluous ornament in favor of precise construction. Seating pieces such as side chairs, armchairs or club chairs for example, were made with tubular metal or molded plywood frames, and upholstery was made from leather or cane. Above all, designs in the Bauhaus style offer aesthetic flexibility. They can be the elements of a wholly spare, minimalist space, the quiet foundation of an environment in which color and pattern come from one’s own collection of art and artifacts.
Today, from textiles to typefaces, architecture, furniture and decorative objects for the home, Bauhaus creations continue to have an outsize influence on modern design.
Find a collection of authentic Bauhaus furniture on 1stDibs.
Finding the Right desks-writing-tables for You
Choosing the perfect writing desk or writing table is a profoundly personal journey, one that people have been embarking upon for centuries.
Queen Atossa of Persia, from her writing table circa 500 B.C., is said to have been the originator of the art of handwritten letters. Hers was reportedly the first in a long and colorful history of penned correspondence that grew in popularity alongside literacy. The demand for suitable writing desks, which would serve the composer of the letters as well as ensure the comfort of the recipient naturally followed, and the design of these necessary furnishings has evolved throughout history.
Once people began to seek freedom from the outwardly ornate styles of the walnut and rosewood writing desks and drafting tables introduced in the name of Queen Victoria and King Louis XV, radical shifts occurred, such as those that materialized during the Art Nouveau period, when designers longed to produce furniture inspired by the natural world’s beauty. A prime example is the work of the famous late-19th-century Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí — his rolltop desk featured deep side drawers and was adorned with carved motifs that paid tribute to nature. Gaudí regularly combined structural precision with decorative elements, creating beautiful pieces of furniture in wood and metal.
Soon afterward, preferences for sleek, geometric, stylized forms in furniture that saw an emphasis on natural wood grains and traditional craftsmanship took hold. Today, Art Deco desks are still favored by designers who seek to infuse interiors with an air of luxury. One of the most prominent figures of the Art Deco movement was French decorator and furniture designer Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann. With his use of neoclassical motifs as well as expensive and exotic materials such as imported dark woods and inlays of precious metals for his writing desks, Ruhlmann came to symbolize good taste and modernity.
The rise in appreciation for Scandinavian modernism continues to influence the design of contemporary writing desks. It employs the “no fuss” or “less is more” approach to creating a tasteful, sophisticated space. Sweden’s master cabinetmaker Bruno Mathsson created gallery-worthy designs that are as functional as they are beautiful. Finnish architect Alvar Aalto never viewed himself as an artist, but, like Mathsson, his furniture designs reflected a fondness for organic materials and a humanistic approach. Danish designers such as Hans Wegner introduced elegant shapes and lines to mid-century desks and writing tables, often working in oak and solid teak.
From vintage desks to contemporary styles, 1stDibs offers a broad spectrum of choices for conducting all personal and business writing and reading activities.