20th Century Desks and Writing Tables

A very stylish and extremely well made vintage Swedish teak desk. This was recently imported from Sweden, it dates from the 1960’s. The quality is outstanding, this has an interesti...

Restored Bauhaus Writing Desk Catalog model: PS 8 Material: Walnut, Chrome-plated Steel Source: Czechia (Czechoslovakia) Period: 1930-1939 This desk was designed by French modernis...

Midcentury Danish rosewood desk A good quality Danish rosewood desk having four drawers to the front and open shelf to the back. Beautiful grain on the top and drawers on original ke...

Great industrial eye-catcher as a work station in a hip company or the man cave. But also as a presentation place for a special (museum) object would be a great function! The start...

An antique roll top desk offers paneled quarter sawn oak construction with s-top opening to full interior over base with flanking drawer towers h...

Willy Van Der Meeren desk for Tubax, circa 1950, Formica, metal, wood- 38 available.  

Guillerme et Chambron, rare desk, Edition Votre Maison, circa 1950/1960.

Adjustable wood top, cast iron base drafting table. This table adjusts in height from tallest position (42") to lowest (30.5") and the to...

This stylish and highly functional desk was probably a one off commission, its rarity suggests so. It has a built in Bakelite switch that turns on the elegant angle poise light by Ad...

This French 1900's Oak child's school desk is a rare find that exudes immense character. The desk bears the markings of many children who have used it over the years, adding to its c...

An unusual style Mid-Century Modern, solid Beech & veneer desk, crafted by Ekawerk Horn-Lippe in East Germany in the 1960's. This inventive design piece features sleek lines and a b...

Writing desk from France in the Louis XVI style. This piece has been ebonized and finished with a lustrous French polish. There are five dovetailed drawers all with brass original ha...

Authentic vintage mid century Danish / Scandinavian Modern teak desk. This piece is in excellent refinished condition with very few signs of age-related wear (see photos). If you w...

Handsome secretary desk features unique legs and a functioning skeleton key to open the drop down workspace. The stylish design has three large drawers on the bottom and shelfs prov...

Silvio Cavatorta desk, mahogany, brass, Italy, design 1948-1949 Beautifully shaped desk in mahogany designed by Silvio Cavatorta in the late 1940s. The desk consists of a sleek top,...

American Aesthetic Oak Partners Desk manner Louis Comfort Tiffany.. Large and handsome antique oak partner's desk, Gorgeous grain, brass hardware.carving to the massive feet.Drawers ...

Distinctive desk showcasing a single drawer and elegantly rounded, tapered wooden legs.

Elegant Heywood Wakefield Ladies Writing Desk & Chair.. Classic mid century modern,Wonderful original finish.Solid birch wood.. Hand delivery avail to New York City or anywhere en ro...

rare Gio Ponti toilette, vanity table dressing table one drawer with an adjustable brass mirror by Fontana Arte produced by Giordano Chiesa for Dassi circa 1950 walnut, olive wood ...

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...

Rare Osvaldo Borsani vintage desk manufactured by Tecno in the 1960s - early 1970s. Steel black structure with wood top venereed in white /beige laminate. Two side adjustable drawe...

Rosewood Danish secretary desk, circa 1960's. Sleek angular profile and elegant tapering legs. Stunning bookmatched veneer case with contrasting beech wood fitted interior. Minor ven...

A rare, likely one-of-a-kind, Vladimir Kagan design, employing all of the design touches that make him such an important figure in American Modernism. A wonderful melding of rationalist and biomorphic elements, the triangular black laminate writing surface cantilevers over a cubist stack of drawers raised on sculptural foot; on the opposite end the top is supported by a classic Kagan split leg. The piece is finished on the back to allow floating in a room. This comes out of a Kagan-Dreyfuss designed Manhattan apartment...

Cees Braakman for Pastoe, desk, teak, brushed metal, The Netherlands, 1950s. Modest designed desk by Dutch designer Cees Braakman for Pastoe. The table top and drawer compartment are executed in teak. Curved plywood is used to furnish the inner part of the three different drawers, each with a metal handle. A modern exterior...

Double desk with shelf, walnut, Italy, 1950s Custom-made desk for two people with wall-mounted shelf. Luxurious detail are the wood inlays that show ...

Art Deco dressing table with chair. Elegant dressing table with a chair in the Art Deco style. The furniture has been professionally renovated and is in very good condition. The dres...

This vintage custom made sensational floating desk with 2 drawers has a recessed glass top that floats on steel pegs around the entire desk; the 2 part lucite sides come together with a steel round disk at center at the back and the white lacquered drawers float on the left hand side with chrome...

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...

Old Adjustable Table 1930s Fabulous Sculptural Industrial Wheeled Wood Table Adjustable Tilt with Hand Crank Metal Base Adjustable height useful as Lectern, Drafting, Music Stand, S...

An outstanding French Louis XV style writing desk or bureau plat desk By R. Soriano Spain, 20th Century Gorgeous kingwood, with ornate gilt bronze ormolu mounts, and embossed blac...

Italian mid-century modern, light blue laminate and solid wood desk, with drawer, 1960s. Desk with rectangular top in light blue Formica, with light solid wood structure, composed of...

Stunning Danish modern teak desk designed by the famous cabinet maker Kai Kristiansen for Feldballes Møbelfrabrik in Denmark, circa 1960s. The FM60 desk is a highly sought-after Scan...

Great English Partner Desk/Writing Desk 20th Century, Mahogany Solid mahogany, partially veneered. Three-drawer frame profiled on both sides, slightly protruding table top. Writing ...

Set of two Andalusian chairs in yellow ocre polychrome wood with birds From the 1980´s Very Romantic with a chalky classic finish for interiors with a soft country style Upholstery ...

This 'Magic Box' organising desk has been produced by various manufactures in Europe in the 1950's and 1960's Commonly this desk is known as produced in Switzerland by Mummenthaler & Meier but this same model was also made in Norway and France We believe this is the French version that was made by Ateliers Genestar as that version has the retractable plywood curved lamp...

Vintage wicker reed/rattan table or writing desk with a wicker chair. Bothe pieces are early 19th century and freshly painted light grey. Excellent vintage condition.

Danish Modern Executive Freestanding Rosewood Desk, 1960s. Elegant and stylish double sided writing desk in very expressive book matched rosewood/palisander veneer manufactured in De...

Cabinet Art Deco, French, circa 1930. Credenza buffet walnut and marble with chrome brass chopsticks. Two doors and six drawers. The buffet has been made in three parts. The top o...

Designed by Massimo Scolari for Giorgetti in 1994, the Zeno desk is a fantastic example of modern Italian design. The desk is construc...

Straight-lined desk in a clear design by French designer Jean Claude Mahey. The object is made entirely of beech wood and is very heavy. The desk has 3 drawers with folding brass ha...

Amazing vintage executive desk designed by architect and furniture designer Florence Knoll in the United States, circa 1960s. This iconic design...

Le Corbusier L6 style table base for Cassina. Selling without glass.

This stunning Mid Century Solid Teak & Veneer Surface Desk. Danish in Design, Boomerang shape model, slightly curved top to front and back edges with a large niche at the back for st...

A French Louis XV style side table made of solid walnut with hidden desk. Table top slides forward and back lifts up to reveal compartments for letters with two small drawers. Elegan...

Vintage French Louis XV Style Figural Bronze Ormolu Leather Top Bureau Plat Writing Desk. Item featured is a large impressive size, stunning bronze figural female bust mounts on all ...

For sale is a good quality antique burr walnut kneehole desk, having a cross banded and quarter veneered top, with cross grain mouldings to the edge, above an arrangement of seven dr...

A very rare freestanding desk designed by Frode Holm around 1950. Ultra minimalist design with exceptional details and two elegant drawers executed in teak. Produced by Illums Boligh...

Art Deco drawer unit desk, four drawers, wood with oak veneer, resting on an aluminium-covered base. Aluminium handles. Satiny varnish finishing. France circa 1930

Desk dimensions: Height: 79 cm (31.1 in) Width: 110 cm (43.3 in) Depth: 63 cm (24.8 in) Leg space: Height: 74 cm (29.1 in) Width: 68 cm (26.8 in) Made according to the design of Ma...

Scandinavian desk by Erik Brouer for Brouer Mobelfabrik, Denmark 70's

Rena Dumas (1937-2009) & Peter Coles (1955-1985) in collaboration with Hermès Pippa Travel desk and folding stool Pearwood, leather and brass Edition Hermès Stamped 'P.R. Hermès Pari...

Dimensions of the desk: Height: 70 cm (27.6 in) Width: 100 cm (39.4 in) Depth: 55 cm (21.7 in) Leg space: Height: 67.5 cm (26.6 in) Width: 45 cm (17.7 in) Our professional refurbis...

Desk with leather and wood top and chromed metal legs designed by Hans Von Klier in the 70s. Wear due to time and age of the desk.

Modern lacquered wood vanity desk with convertible writing compartment, in the Art Deco taste, the center flanked by two drawers and two doors.

The Shaker Board (table) has a sleek image, possibly due to its steel legs. This center table, with a rectangular top and a Shaker base, was designed by Arne Jacobsen in collaboratio...

A late 1970s Northern Italian Modernist desk in marble, steel and leather custom built for a high end jewellers in Milan.

Stunning Art Deco Writing Desk in Book Matched Burl Veneer, Europe, 1930s. This is a wonderful and very stylish art deco desk or writing table in beautiful book matched burl veneer....

The wonderful and intricate bamboo & rattan woven lattice work is exceptionally preserved in its natural original color, this bamboo desk features a newly replaced deep blue abet lam...