Desks Furniture

Ink, lamplight, a long afternoon of correspondence. Antique desks range from Chinese elm writing tables and Tibetan monk’s writing tables, low and painted for work seated on the floor, to Dutch Colonial desks from Indonesia in teak, ironwood and mahogany, made in the trading centers of the old East Indies. Pedestal desks, partners’ desks for two people facing each other, school desks and library tables come from China, India and Mongolia, from the early 18th century to the early 20th. Contemporary desks such as the Langham, Dillon, Alhambra and One Fifth Paris pair walnut, brass and stainless steel.

A desk is a working surface first; old wood keeps the marks of ink, lamps and elbows. Set under a window or against a gallery wall, with a lamp and a single bronze, a writing table becomes a still life. Try not to tidy it.