What are antique desks called?A secretary, also called an escritoire, is a specific type of antique writing desk that has some very practical features. It’s one of the most common types of antiques desk you will encounter in antique stores or auctions. A secretary desk is a piece that has a writing surface that folds or drops down when in use.
What do you call the desk with a hutch?The name “secretary desk” conjures images of an old-fashioned piece of furniture. In fact, these classic desks have been around since the 1700s, although they’re still very much in use today.
What is a Wooton desk worth?“The Wooton desk, for anybody collecting late 19th century furniture, this is one of the ultimate pieces you would have.” Melchert asked for $14,500 and ultimately got pretty close to that with a final accepted offer of $13,500.
What were old desks made of?In fact, a Bible box—a plain wooden container with a flat or slanted lid, which held the Bible and important papers—was the earliest desk.
What are antique desks called? – Additional Questions
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How can I tell how old my desk is?
Make sure to search for labels, stamps, or manufacturing tags that can tell when and where a piece was made. Furniture companies and makers often listed their names, locations, and year of production This information can be found on the inside of drawers, the backs of bureaus, and on the lower edges of pieces.
How do I know if my desk is an antique?
Look carefully at the bottom, sides, and back of the drawer; if the wood shows nicks or cuts, it was probably cut with a plane, a spokeshave, or a drawknife. Straight saw marks also indicate an old piece. If the wood shows circular or arc-shaped marks, it was cut by a circular saw, not in use until about 1860.
When was the first desk made?
Desks first appear in the late 17th century (the 1600’s) as bureaus, i.e. a sloping front desk in which the writing surface can be opened and closed. They were an adaptation of the chest of drawers onto which the writing slope was fitted.
Why is it called a secretary desk?
Taking its name from the French word for the piece, secrétaire, the secretary desk dates back to the 18th century, when Paris-based cabinetmaker Jean-François Oeben, known for his exquisite marquetry and clever mechanical desks, is thought to have invented the secrétaire à abbattant, or drop-leaf desk.
Where did desks come from?
The first desks were probably designed for ecclesiastical use. Early English desks derived from the church lectern were massive; after the development of printing, they gave way to smaller, portable chests with sloping lids—called writing boxes—some of which featured drawers and letter holes.
Why is furniture called a secretary?
The secretary (from secretarius, Latin for writer) evolved as a larger and more formal piece of furniture to store books and papers.
How can you tell a real Davenport desk?
There is generally a row of drawers down one side, with false drawers on the opposing side, and the top is surmounted by a brass or fretwork gallery. Made to be freestanding, davenports are finished and polished on all four sides.
What era are secretary desks from?
The secretary’s provenance is likely to have been French, appearing in the first half of the 1800s in France as an offshoot of the plainer escritoire, or writing desk. Traditionally made from wood and often ornate, a secretary may also feature various metals, such as gilded accents, and inlays.
What is a writing desk with drawers called?
secretary, also called secretaire, or escritoire, a writing desk fitted with drawers, one of which can be pulled out and the front lowered to provide a flat writing surface.
What is a 6 letter word for writing desk?
The crossword clue Writing desk with 6 letters was last seen on the June 01, 2022. We think the likely answer to this clue is BUREAU.
How do I know if my roll top desk is antique?
Check the desk for original locks stamped with a turn-of-the-century manufacturer’s name, such as Derby Desk Company, Schlicht Area Company, Shannon File Company or Cutler Desk Company. You might also find the name of the manufacturer underneath the desk, which could even include the date the piece was manufactured.
What is a French writing desk called?
The writing table is often called a “bureau plat” when it is done in a French style such as Louis XVI, Art Nouveau, etc. When a writing table is supported by two legs instead of four, it is usually called a trestle desk.
What is a slanted desk called?
The slant top desk, also called secretary desk, or more properly, a bureau is a piece of writing furniture with a lid, when closed stays at an angle, and opens up as a writing surface. It can also be considered related, in form, of the desk on a frame, which was a form of portable desk in earlier eras.
What is a plat desk?
Bureau Plat, 18th-19th Centuries
Also called a table à écrire or “writing table”, it puts the emphasis on marquetry, on ebony or mahogany veneering, and on finely crafted and gilded bronze.
Why is a raven like a writing desk?
The author, Lewis Carroll, answered the riddle in an updated preface to the book. He said that a raven is like a writing desk “Because it can produce a few notes, tho they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in front!” This means that both ravens and desks produce notes.
What does the 10 6 mean on the Mad Hatter?
The 10/6 refers to the cost of a hat — 10 shillings and 6 pence, and later became the date and month to celebrate Mad Hatter Day. The idiom “mad as a hatter” was around long before Carroll started writing.
What is the Mad Hatter’s riddle?
“Why is a raven like a writing desk?” is a riddle proposed by the Mad Hatter during a tea party in Lewis Carroll’s classic 1865 novel, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alice was unable to answer the riddle because there was no answer. The Mad Hatter admitted as much.
