The World’s Most Inspiring Antique Desks
Check some truly inspiring world’s greatest writers’ antique desks. We offer beautiful antique desks in the same styles. Great works need the right stimulation which is why having a suitable desk is so important. Over the ages, the world’s greatest writers have shown unbridled creativity working from some truly inspiring antique desks. These pieces of furniture have withstood the test of time and can now be seen in person where they still radiate the brilliance and talent of the masters who worked on them.
Charles Dickens Mahogany Writing Desk
During his time at Gads Hill Place, Charles Dickens penned some of his greatest literary works, including A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations, on a 19th-century mahogany partner’s desk. Featuring an inclined writing area, a raised back shelf, and eleven drawers, this is a dark, solid piece that instils confidence and stimulates the imagination. While the top surfaces are now worn, it’s easy to see that this is a desk which produced real results from one of the world’s most famous authors.
We have several beautiful mahogany writing desks, in the same style as Dickens’, including this stunning example below.
Agatha Christie’s Elegant Writing Desk
While living at her mews home on Cresswell Place, Agatha Christie wrote many of her best-selling crime novels on a simple 170-year-old mahogany desk featuring reeded legs on wheels. This is an antique desk which has withstood the test of time. In fact, you could say it has improved over the years with Agatha Christie pouring her heart and soul into it when writing her masterpieces. One look at this vintage piece of furniture and it’s easy to see how it inspired so much imagination.
Another example of a mahogany writing desk with leather inlay, this desk features turned legs, adding a classic touch of elegance to an otherwise simple design.
Bram Stoker’s Ornate Writing Desk
Lastly, we have the desk on which Bram stoker penned one of the most famous literary characters in the world, Dracula, in 1897. This is a desk truly befitting one of the world’s greatest horror writers, created using dark timber, metal plated drawers and a host of embellishments. There are even several hidden compartments inside, adding to the mystery and allure behind this world famous author. Even though the desk has been restored, it has still retained its haunting appearance over the years.
If this style is to your taste, you will find some elaborate marquetry and ornate detailing on several of our antique writing desks.
1. Vintage Large 6ft Georgian Style Flame Mahogany Partners Pedestal Desk 20th
This is a stunning large vintage Georgian style partner’s desk, masterfully crafted in flame mahogany, dating from the second half of the 20th century. The desk top is of breakfront outline and is fiited with a beautiful inset three part gilt tooled green leather writing surface. This grand desk has a very solid construction with decorative panelled sides and elegant brass drop handles and is raised on shaped bracket feet. It is a partners desk, this one is identical on each side. Each side has three drawers across the frieze a pedestal which has a further three drawers and a pedestal which has a useful cupboard. Partners desks were made to make it possible for two people to work at the same time on one desk, hence the term “partners desk”. There is no mistaking its superb quality and elaborate design, which is certain to make it a talking point in your home and add a touch of luxury to your study room.
2. Vintage Mahogany Chippendale Nostell Priory Partner’s Desk 20thC
We feel enormously privileged to present this magnificent flame mahogany lion’s head Chippendale partners desk. It is an exact replica of the desk supplied by Thomas Chippendale to Sir Rowland Winn in 1767 for his residence, Nostell Priory in Yorkshire and, in our view, demonstrates the highest standards of the cabinet maker’s craft, representing all that is finest from the 18th century – perfect proportions, fine cabinet making and carving of the highest quality.
The original of this Chippendale partners desk is owned by the National Trust and resides still at the site of the former Nostell Priory, now a beautiful house built in the Palladian style, the current home of Lord St Oswald. The desk has been beautifully crafted from flame mahogany and is finished all round so it is free standing. The desk features beautifully carved lion’s heads, with acanthus and laurel details, and it stands on elegant lion’s paw feet. Carved from solid mahogany, the craftsmanship is of the highest order, surely the work of a master carver.
This Chippendale partners desk is identical on both sides, with the cupboard doors on one side each opening to reveal a bank of four graduated drawers, all lined in solid mahogany with brass drop handles, and a central frieze drawer. The doors on the other side open to reveal a drawer above four vertical file dividers and a central frieze drawer. To cap it off, the top is lined in the finest olive green gilt-tooled hide.
We cannot overstate the significance of this piece; it represents the very pinnacle of the cabinet maker’s craft. It may interest you to know that Christie’s sold a similar replica Thomas Chippendale desk, by London furniture makers Arthur Brett, for £221,000 in March 2017. This stunning Chippendale partners desk will bring style and beauty to your home like no other piece and is certain to become the shining centrepiece of your furniture collection.
3. Antique Marquetry Carlton House Desk Writing Table Druce & C0 19th C
We take huge pleasure in presenting this beautiful mahogany, satinwood and marquetry antique Carlton House desk by the renowned London retailer and cabinet maker Druce & Co, dating from around 1880.
The top of this antique Carlton House desk is surmounted with a decorative brass gallery and it is inlaid with a stunning marquetry of baskets of flowers, swags and swirls, a musical trophy and scrolling foliage. The decoration extends right around to the back of the piece, which features classical urns and a prominent scallop shell. Matching functionality with elegance, this antique Carlton House desk has plenty of storage compartments to accommodate all of your stationery. In addition to the eight smaller drawers and five cupboards on top of the desk, there are five larger drawers below. To complete the piece, the top has been expertly relined with a fine quality gilt-tooled oxblood leather inset sliding writing surface. The central drawer bears the embossed brass trade label of Druce & Co.
This antique Carlton House desk stands on four elegant tapering legs that terminate in their original brass castors. Its authenticity is unimpeachable; all the locks, handles, keys and castors are present and original. Better still, the desk is finished all around, so it can be displayed in pride of place anywhere in your home.
This astonishing piece, redolent with history, is as useful as it is beautiful and is sure to prove the centrepiece of your collection, attracting admiring looks wherever it is displayed.
We can’t claim to have antique desks with the same kinds of claim to fame as the ones above, but we can guarantee that each one of our desks has a unique and fascinating history. Browse our selection of antique desks, writing tables and partners desks, or contact us if you are looking for something particular.
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