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Desks and Writing Tables For Sale
Period: 18th Century and Earlier
Period: 1940s
Teak Desk by Ilmari Tapiovaara, manufactured by Cantú, 1960
Located in Berlin, DE
Wooden desk made by finish designer Ilmari Tapiovaara, made of solid teak wood with drawers and brass details.
Labeled 'La Permanente di Cantú'
Il...
Category
1660s Italian Modern Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
18th Century French Louis XV Carved Serpentine Cherry Desk with Parquetry Top
Located in Dallas, TX
This elegant antique partner desk was created in the Poitou region of France, circa 1790. Made of wild cherry timber, the large writing table stand...
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Fine George III Mahogany Reading Stand and Table
Located in New York, NY
The rectangular tilt-top of finely figured timber with removable reading ledge; raised on a turn columnar support and three downswept cabriole legs terminating in pad-form feet.
P...
Category
Mid-18th Century English George III Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
French Louis XV Late 18th Century Cherry Table with Drawer from the Rhône Valley
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French Louis XV cherry table from the Rhône Valley, with long drawer and cabriole legs. Born in France in the later years of the 18th century, this cherry table features a rectangu...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Cherry
Baroque Table, South German, 1760
Located in Belmont, MA
Beautiful baroque table or desk, made in Southern Germany or northern Switzerland 1760, cherry veneer with marquetry in plum wood and elm. The table is in very good refinished condit...
Category
1760s German Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Cherry
Art Deco Rosewood and Gilded Albert Fournier Dining Table
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Brazilian rosewood dining table by Albert Fournier et Cie. Gold leaf harlequin pattern on surface with brass perimeter details and brass sabots. The ce...
Category
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass, Gold Leaf
Small Dutch Baroque 17th Century Oak Draw-Leaf Center Table
Located in Troy, NY
The small Dutch Baroque draw-leaf or center table with a two-board framed top having conforming extension leaves on each end, above a plain frieze, supported by massive plaint turned...
Category
17th Century Dutch Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
Original Walnut Queen Anne Secretary Desk /Bureau
Located in Pomona, CA
An original Queen Anne period writing desk, circa 1720. Fantastic patina on it's original walnut finish. All the good features, Quarter veneered sides. Panel design to fall front and...
Category
Early 18th Century English Queen Anne Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
18th Century Baroque Venetian Center Table Red Lacquered Painted
Located in Epfach, DE
18th century Venetian center table
red lacquered with painted gilt figures
with one-drawer
a very unusual and rare Venetian table with lovely ...
Category
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
18th Century Mahogany Desk
Located in Lincolnshire, GB
A George III period mahogany kneehole desk of good size, with the original brasses and lovely one piece top. The whole piece is of great colour and patina, circa 1780
This desk is...
Category
1780s English George III Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
18th C. Spanish Trestle Style Writing Table, Spool Turned Legs and Wrought Iron
Located in Madrid, ES
The tabletop of this 18th century Spanish table is one single wide plank, which over the years has warped slightly, adding an attractive twist to the surface and creating a piece of furniture with unique character. The deeply-coved spool turned leg...
Category
18th Century Spanish Rustic Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wrought Iron
French 17th Century Desk
Located in Stockbridge, GA
French 17th century desk, Louis XIV period. It was originally a trunk which has been transformed during the 19th century into a desk.
Category
Mid-17th Century French Louis XIV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak
17th Century French Louis XIV Walnut Writing Table
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Louis XIV writing table with fine form and having a Sotheby's New York auction house label. The table with a rectangular plank top over a long frieze drawer with carved knob pulls an...
Category
17th Century French Louis XIV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
French Louis XV Period Tric Trac or Backgammon Table Stamped P. Roussel
Located in Pembroke, MA
French Louis XV period (18th century) "Tric Trac" or Backgammon table stamped by the maker, "P. Roussel," and the guild "JME" (Jurande des Menuisiers et Ebenistes --translated as the...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze, Ormolu
Spanish Baroque 18th Century Lyre Leg Wooden Trestle Table with Iron Stretcher
Located in Atlanta, GA
A Spanish baroque table with decorative forged-iron stretcher from the 18th century. This antique table from Spain features a rectangular-shaped top, which is raised upon a pair of fluidly-carved, lyre-shaped trestle styled legs at either end. The pair of trestles...
Category
Late 18th Century Spanish Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Iron
18th Century Sheraton Satinwood 'Bonheur du Jour'
Located in London, GB
An unusual late 18th century satinwood 'Bonheur du Jour,' boxwood and ebony line inlaid throughout, having fiddle-back mahogany bow paneled doors with central drawer and recess, abov...
Category
Late 18th Century English Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Satinwood
English Hard Wood Portable Writing Desk, circa 1850
By OTHR
Located in Guadalajra, Jal
English country portable writing desk with lifting writing surface, it has its original bronze ironworks, late 18th century.
Category
Late 18th Century Mexican Rustic Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Hardwood
18th Century Italian Louis XV Writing Table Inlaid Rosewood Center Desk
Located in Milan, IT
Elegant 18th century Italian rosewood center table from Tuscany, Italy, a rectangular shaped Louis XV veneered desk with one small drawer on the front, raised by elegant à cabriole legs with superlative and contrasting ebony and box wood inlaid profiles, ending with curled feet.
This antique Italian table...
Category
Mid-18th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Boxwood, Ebony, Rosewood
George II Mahogany Harlequin Table
Located in Dallas, TX
A George II mahogany pier/tea/games bureau-table. The mahogany top is supported on a hinged back leg when opened. The top when opened conceals the game table and a harlequin pop-up c...
Category
Mid-18th Century English George II Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
Danish 18th Century Writing Desk By Royal Architect C. F. Harsdorff
By Caspar Frederik Harsdorff
Located in Haddonfield, NJ
18th Century writing desk with five drawers. The desk is designed by the Danish royal neoclassical architect Caspar Frederik Harsdorff.
Category
Late 18th Century Danish Neoclassical Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Oak, Walnut
17th Century Spanish Walnut Bureau/Desk, circa 1690, Chest of Drawers
Located in Miami, FL
17th century Spanish walnut bureau/desk, circa 1690. Chest of drawers.
Category
Late 17th Century Spanish Spanish Colonial Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
18th Century George III Architect's Desk / Adjustable Drawing Table
Located in Dallas, TX
an 18th century, English architect's drawing table / desk of mahogany, the hinged top adjusts to various angles, the table / drawer extends as a writing/working surface with old worn...
Category
Late 18th Century English Georgian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
Table Rent Center Desk Tavolino Tuscan Italian Walnut Oval Baroque
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Exceptionally rare, large, museum quality, Tuscan, Baroque, walnut, rent or center table or tavolino with detachable top and single drawer
- This beautiful, rent table is an unco...
Category
Early 17th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Spanish Walnut Table With Iron Stretcher
Located in Houston, TX
This is an early walnut Spanish table that could be a great small desk or side table. It has a warm honey patina and its stability is good. You can see in the photos the dovetail con...
Category
18th Century Spanish Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Grand Scale 18th Century Walnut Italian Desk
Located in Gloucestershire, GB
A grand scale 18th Century walnut Italian desk. Very unusual design with wonderful quality walnut spindle gallery. Having two large drawers in each pedestal. A substantial desk finis...
Category
18th Century Italian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Console Table, Italy 1940s
Located in Greding, DE
Art Deco console table on a U-shaped blackened wooden frame with intermediate metal struts and rectangular table top covered with white goatskin. In unrestored original condition wit...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
French 18th Century Louis XV Bureau Plat, Writing Desk
Located in Worpswede / Bremen, DE
An imposing Louis XV ebonized writing table with finely chased gilt bronze mounts. The stepped moulded rectangular top inset with the original gilt-tooled leather above three frieze drawers with elaborate ormolu handles and escutcheons, the reverse conformingly organized with three simulated drawers, allowing this bureau plat to be freestanding, the cabriole legs with sabot feet headed by female masks.
The iconic Coco chancel lived with a Rococo writing desk...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Rococo Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bronze
Scottish Library Table with Barley Twist Legs
Located in Hudson, NY
Beautiful all-over patina and hand carvings on the apron.
Category
Early 18th Century Scottish Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Wood, Fabric and Glass Italian 1940s Rationalist Desk
Located in Varese, Lombardia
A beautiful and rare desk in the style of Franco Albini. It is made from a wooden crossed structure with a chrome-plated rod. A studded octagonal top is covered with red "panno Lenci...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal, Brass, Chrome
Mid-18th Century Chippendale Period Mahogany Architects Table
Located in London, GB
A mid-18th century well figured mahogany architects table having lift up ratchet top with sprung book-rest, above fitted drawer supported on square chamfered legs.
Category
Mid-18th Century English Chippendale Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
Fine 18th Century ‘French Hepplewhite’ Mahogany Ladies Writing Table
Located in London, GB
A late 18th century ‘French Hepplewhite’ figured mahogany ladies writing table of serpentine form, having boxwood and ebony strung tulipwood crossba...
Category
Late 18th Century English Hepplewhite Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Boxwood, Ebony, Mahogany, Tulipwood
18th Century Louis XV Wood French Writing Table
Located in IT
The very unusual and particular center desk, called also bureau plat, was made in France, at Paris, in the 18th century, Louis XV period. It has a refined veneer in wood and a slidin...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
18th Century Louis XVI Cylinder Top Secretaire
Located in Belmont, MA
18th century Louis XVI Cylinder Top Secretaire, Paris 1780.
The secretaire stands out for its elaborate kingwood and satinwood marquetry.
The inside is embellished with several dra...
Category
1780s French Louis XVI Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Kingwood
Vintage Modern Writing Desk by Wolfgang Hoffman
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This stylish black lacquer writing desk features the unique vintage design of Mid-Century Modern designer Wolfgang Hoffman. Spacious drawers with tubu...
Category
1940s American Art Deco Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
English Satinwood and Patera Inlaid Knee Hole Desk. Circa 1780
Located in Hollywood, SC
English satinwood and ebony string patera inlaid seven-drawer knee hole desk with original brasses, prospect door, and terminating on original bracket feet. Late 18th century.
Category
1780s English George II Antique Desks and Writing Tables
18th Century, Gentleman's Writing Desk and Games Table
Located in Newport Beach, CA
Wonderful, circa 1780, hand carved, petite writing desk inset with game chess and backgammon game boards. The top featuring its original, inset marble. The whole on tapered legs term...
Category
1780s French Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Antique Bureau Desk in Walnut Cartonnier Writing Office Table Provencal Rustic
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Antique Bureau Desk in Walnut Cartonnier Writing office Table Provencal Rustic . An exquisite French Provencal antique campagne Campaign High-end ...
Category
18th Century French Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Metal
French Louis XIV Walnut Table, Early 18th Century
Located in Atlanta, GA
An early 18th century Louis XIV walnut table with rectangular molded top, long drawer in frieze with intricate wrought iron center pull, and tur...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XIV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wrought Iron
Desk Swedish 18th Century Green Original Paint Sweden
Located in New York, NY
Desk Swedish 18th Century Green Original Paint Sweden. A writing desk Swedish made during the 18th century in Sweden. Original paint in dark green. Interior with shelving, drawers an...
Category
Late 18th Century Swedish Gustavian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Bentwood
18th Century Louis XV Bureau Plat
Located in Belmont, MA
Louis XV bureau plat, France, 18th-19th century.
The bureau plat is decorated with beautiful rosewood veneer and the original bronze fittings. The wri...
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Rosewood
Small 18th Century Mahogany Brown Wood Kneehole Desk with Brass Handles
Located in London, GB
A rare and charming early 18th century mahogany kneehole desk of small proportions, with carved apron, a long drawer to the frieze, and three short drawers to each side, framing a cu...
Category
Early 18th Century English Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
Spanish 18th Century Solid Board Top Writing Table
Located in Atlanta, GA
An exceptional and very beautiful mid-18th century writing table from the Catalan region of Spain. Beautifully constructed from stunning walnut with a solid board top and hand forged...
Category
Mid-18th Century Spanish Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Period George III Chippendale Mahogany Architect's Table or Desk
Located in Essex, MA
Period Georgian architect's table or desk
--Metamorphic
--Cuban mahogany
--Writing surfaces and racheted book supports
--A very well construction ver...
Category
Late 18th Century English Georgian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Mahogany
Rare 1794 George III Gillows of Lancaster Double Sided Postmasters Sorting Desk
Located in GB
We are delighted to offer for sale this stunning and exceptionally rare 1794 George III Gillows Lancaster twin pedestal double sided postmasters desk i...
Category
1790s English George III Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Hardwood
Cherry Wood Writing Desk with Kneehole Late 18th Century, Austria, circa 1790
Located in Lichtenberg, AT
Splendid cherrywood writing desk with kneehole from the late 18th century in Austria, circa 1790. This over 220 year old writing desk from the so-call...
Category
Late 18th Century Austrian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
George III Walnut Table
Located in Essex, MA
Rectangular top over a single drawer with inlaid escutcheon and original bail handle raised on square tapered legs.
Category
1790s English George III Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Other
Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze-Mounted Bois-Satiné Writing Table
Located in Mt Kisco, NY
A fine French kidney shaped bureau plat desk, having an inset beige leather top. Two side drawers over cabriole legs with ormolu mounts.
Category
1940s French Louis XV Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Ormolu
French Louis XVI Carved Walnut Writing-Side Table with Drawer
Located in Dallas, TX
A French carved walnut small writing table, perfect end table or bedside table, late 18th century.
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XVI Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Early American Console Table in Dark Brown
Located in West Hollywood, CA
Wooden work table with two knobs and drawers in immaculate condition.
Category
Mid-18th Century Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood
Table, Centre, Library, Desk, 17 Century, Portuguese, Baroque, Brazil, Rosewood
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The design and ornamentation of this centre table is characteristic of Portuguese Baroque furniture dating from the second half of the 17t...
Category
Late 17th Century Portuguese Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Rosewood
18th Century Louis XV Baroque Walnut Fall Front Desk/Secretaire
Located in Darmstadt, DE
The desk is from the time around 1730 and covered with a beautiful marquetry of different walnut / walnut root wood on a pine body.
All three locks are original from that time as wel...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut, Pine
Rare Gio Ponti Administrative Desk
By Gio Ponti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Gio Ponti desk designed in limited edition for city offices of Forlì, Italy. Original red Formica writing surface on European beechwood with 8 floating drawers. Brass base on legs.
...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Formica, Beech
Louis XVI Walnut Architects Table a La Tronchin
Located in Essex, MA
A fine and unusual piece with gilt bronze mounts, when in table position rectangular with a ratcheted adjustable slant lid , a winding key raised and lowers the reading, working sect...
Category
1780s French Louis XVI Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
American Cuban Mahogany Slant Top Desk
Located in Hollywood, SC
American Cuban mahogany slant top desk with turned ball finial gallery, fitted interior drawers, and ending on cabriole legs with slipper feet.
Category
18th Century and Earlier American Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Italian 17th Century Baroque Painted Walnut Centre Table
Located in Troy, NY
Strikingly decorative Venetian table of highly unusual and rare form, early 17th century.
The oblong molded top enhanced with gilt decoration, above a double frieze with conforming ...
Category
Early 17th Century Italian Baroque Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Wood, Walnut
Robert Gillows II 1790 Writing Library Hardwood Chest of Drawers Leather Slope
Located in GB
We are delighted to offer for sale this very rare circa 1790 Georgian writing Library chest of drawers with desk secretaire by Gillows of Lancaster and L...
Category
1790s English Georgian Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Leather, Hardwood
English Mahogany Tambour Satinwood Inlaid Writing Desk, Circa 1780
Located in Hollywood, SC
English mahogany tambour desk with sliding leather writing surface, interior satinwood compartmentalized drawers with the original bone knobs, five lower drawers with the original br...
Category
1780s English George III Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Brass
French Provincial Louis XIV Period Os de Mouton Oak Side Table
Located in Troy, NY
Small 17th century side table or desk, charming country piece of nice proportion and warm color, three-board top above one drawer, wavy Os de Mouton legs joined by conforming stretch...
Category
Late 17th Century French Louis XIV Antique Desks and Writing Tables
Materials
Walnut
Antique and Vintage Desks and Writing Tables
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.
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Cabriole Bureau
Writing Slope Desk
Writing Desk Sloping
18th Century Style Desk
Bureau Plat Bronze
Black Glass Top Desk
Xvi Bureau
Wood Partners Desk
Vintage Bank Desk
Writing Table Mahogany Regency
Writing Table Brass Mount
Carved Walnut Desk French
Blue Painted Desk
American Desk 19th Century
Mid Century Black Writing Desk With Drawers