Bureau Folk Art

A bureau with respect to furniture is a chest of drawers or a writing desk having drawers and a slanted top. Both are used for storing items. A bureau with only drawers is usually placed in the bedroom while a bureau that is styled like a writing desk lives in an office or library. On 1stDibs, find a variety of antique and vintage bureaus.

An antique bureau is any bureau that is 100 years old or older. The term bureau today is typically used as another word for a dresser or a chest of drawers. This word has also been used to refer to a writing desk. Find a collection of antique bureaus on 1stDibs today.

The difference between a bureau and a dresser has to do with their location and function: The type of bureau that we associate with getting dressed in the morning is little more than a dresser with a mirror on top. This type of storage furniture is essentially a cabinet with a stack of horizontal drawers. Typically, a bureau-dressing table is waist-high and placed in the bedroom. A dresser is a short case piece with drawers that is also typically located in the bedroom.

A bureau can also refer to a secretaire, a furnishing with a writing surface. This kind of bureau features a desk with drawers. Much like a traditional secretary but without the upper half, the slant-top desk, also known as a slant-front or bureau desk, originated in the 18th century.

Find vintage and antique dressers for sale on 1stDibs.

The difference between a dresser, a bureau and a chest of drawers is where you place these furnishings and their overall shapes and designs. Usually positioned in a bedroom, a dresser is a wide, low casegood consisting of two or more columns of drawers. When this type of furniture is placed in a living room, office, library or other space beyond the bedroom, people normally refer to it as a bureau. Another type of bedroom furnishing is a chest of drawers, which is a tall vertical column of drawers stacked one above the other. On 1stDibs, shop a diverse assortment of dressers, bureaus and chests of drawers.

The difference between a bureau, a chest of drawers and a dresser comes down to shape and function. Dressers and chests of drawers are both types of bedroom furniture that feature storage drawers. However, bureaus tend to be wider and shorter, while chests of drawers are narrower and taller. Often used for storage outside of bedrooms, bureaus are usually about the same height as dressers but are shorter than chests of drawers. Find a wide range of casegoods on 1stDibs.