Art Deco Desks

Warren McArthur for Warren McArthur Corporation Table or Desk from the Virginia State Library, Richmond V.A. Aluminum base, wood top with laminate surface Dimensions: 30¼"high 50½" w...

Jean Pascaud (1903-1996) Jean PASCAUD Oak Student Desk, France 1930 Original oak student desk from the Cite Universitaire of Paris with two drawers. Measurements: H 29"1/2 x W 43"1/4...

Jean Pascaud (1903-1996) Jean PASCAUD Oak Student Desk, France 1930 Original oak student desk from the Cite Universitaire of Paris with two drawers. Measurements: H: 29″1/2 x W: 43″1...

A remarkable ladies dressing table made by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths Co. of London for his Highness Nawab Sir Sadiq Mohammed Khan Abbasi the V of Bahawalpur. Constructed in mahogany in the form of a kneehole desk with a modesty screen, rising from Chippendale style carved bracket feet, the banks of pedestals fitted with lockable faux drawers to the left, concealing a safe, and drawers to the right, fitted with ormolu chased swan neck handles; the lockable and hinged panelled top rising to reveal an adjustable triptych bevelled dressing mirror, with provisions for a pair of scallop shaded electrical lights, and having an enclosed body, fitted with an array of cut-glass unguent bottles, all with silver tops, Hall marked for 1929/30, enamelled with an Art Deco design, and bearing wonderfully detailed portraits of His Highness in regal dress...

Italian Art Deco white parchment diminutive triangular form lady's vanity /dressing table with a drawer centered by 2 side drawers and 2 doors.

This Boiceau desk bears his stamp, and was entirely veneered in amboyna, an exotic burlwood named for Ambon, the Indonesian island where it was harvested. The naturally squiggling patterning of the veneer provides an overall surface decoration. The top alone has no fewer than 60 small book-matched squares of it – ten across and six deep – creating a kaleidoscopic effect in subtle monochrome. Applied decoration is minimal. It consists of two inlaid pairs of griffins in boxwood and purplewood facing off across braziers on both the front and the back of the desk, and blind-tooled Greek keys trimming white-leather-topped shelves that slide out to either side. These decorations introduce no color, and, in lying flush with the surface, leave the sleek form undisturbed. Boiceau even eliminated drawer pulls, necessitating a lock and key for each drawer. Born in Lausanne in 1881, Boiceau descended from French Huguenots who had settled in Switzerland. Prominent as bankers, lawyers, businessmen, and diplomats, the Boiceaus were a cosmopolitan family. Ernest studied painting in Munich, and then painting and architecture in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts. In 1900 he embarked on a ten-year European sojourn, painting landscapes and portraits along the way. In 1910 he resettled in Paris, became interested in textiles, and established an embroidery workshop that catered to the stage and haute couture. Among his clients were the Folies Bergères, the Comédie-Française, and the Paris Opéra, and the fashion houses of Worth and Molyneux. He also made embroidered table linens, wall hangings, and upholstery fabrics. In a 1913, at an embroidery exhibition in Paris at the Musée Galliera, he presented a boudoir in collaboration with curtains, upholstery fabrics, and a tapestry, embroidered in modern abstract designs. In 1925 he launched a couture line, and branched out to design finely crafted objects and furniture made in rare woods, like ebony and Tasmanian oak...

This unique architect's desk was designed by Frits Spanjaard in 1932. With its generous proportions, striking asymmetry, contrasting woods and the large knobs in solid Macassar ebony, the desk can be considered as an important example of the Haagse School (The Hague School) style. The desk has four large drawers on the right, which can be simultaneously locked with a single key. The interior on the left features six drawers and additional storage, and can be locked altogether as well. Particularly noteworthy are the four cleverly incorporated pull-out shelves of different dimensions creating additional space: two on the front, one on the right side and one large shelf on the back side. The desktop is executed in dark stained oak and features a dark grey leather insert. in 1932, the prosperous Van Stolk & Reese company commissioned Spanjaard to design the interior and furniture of their offices located on the Ceintuurbaan in Rotterdam. This custom desk was most likely designed for the office of the company’s director, which was designed by Spanjaard in a radically modernist way, combining his own sumptuous designs with the functionalist tubular steel furniture made by W.H. Gispen. Between 1925 and 1935 the work of Spanjaard was strongly connected to the Haagse School movement of which he’d become a main proponent. This style was not so much inspired by the Classic European Art Deco capitals such as Paris and Vienna but more by other national and international architectural developments such as the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The influential magazine Wendingen published a series of articles on Wright still relatively unknown at the time in 1925 and the renowned architect Jan Wils also played an important role in the orientation towards Wrights work in The Netherlands. In its particular application of geometric shapes, primary colours and its sophisticated cubist division of the surface, the Haagse School designers were also aware of De Stijl movement, lead by contemporaries such as Gerrit Rietveld and Piet Mondriaan. At the same time the geometry, the harmonious proportions and the understated decorations were primarily based on the rationalist design principles of H.P. Berlage, who would later become one of Spanjaard’s clients himself. Design had to meet the functional demands of the user but purely utilitarian ideas were certainly not the most important. Due to his frequent travels to Germany, Spanjaard was also familiar with the designs of Marcel Breuer and Mies van der Rohe, especially appreciating the simplicity and purity of their designs. Biography Frits Spanjaard (1889-1978) started his career as the artistic director of the LOV furniture...

Elegant Art Deco mahogany and gilt bronze executive desk by Jules Leleu. Inset with leather top and signed in one of the drawers.

Rare desk in walnut and banded copper-plated aluminum, designed by Donald Deskey and produced by Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company, circa 1929. A strong statement of Machine Age aesth...

French 1940s oak double pedestal base desk with front panels and a raised ¬Ω round inset top with a parquetry design & sliding side shelves (sign...

Oak Bureau / Desk England circa 1930 Dropdown desk with leather surface and space for storage. 30"w x 19.5”d x 38.25”h

Art Deco Mahogany desk by André Arbus and Vadim Androussov decorated with a patinated bronze cartouche representing a female face France: circa 1940 Provenance: this secretary was pa...