What timber are davenports usually made from?

Walnut dominates, and burr walnut in particular: 211 of 689 titles on Sellingantiques name it. Rosewood comes second with 104 titles, mahogany third with 83. Oak accounts for about thirty, often on Gothic, Aesthetic or Arts and Crafts pieces. Beyond that the archive throws up single examples in yew, maple, tulipwood, olivewood, goncalo alves, palisander, coromandel, padouk and pearwood.

How old are most davenports?

The dealers' own dating runs 1800 to 1930. Victorian is the label on 241 listings, with a further 110 tagged only as 19th century. Where a decade is given it clusters hard on 1850 to 1880, the 1860s alone accounting for 82. Regency accounts for 52 and Edwardian for 16.

What is a pop-up davenport?

One where a stationery section rises from the top of the desk, usually spring-assisted. Sixty-two titles use the term, and rise and fall describes the same arrangement. Related names include piano top for a curved lid, harlequin for a rising fitted interior of pigeonholes and small drawers, and jack-in-a-box where the whole upper section springs up. Those last two appear only a handful of times, and always among the higher-priced listings.

Why do the drawers open at the side?

The form was made for letter-writing in a corner, so the depth goes into the drawers and the width stays small. Opening sideways lets the bank of drawers run the full depth of the case. Drawer count is one of the things dealers put in the title, and four side drawers is the commonest arrangement in the sample.

Does freestanding mean something specific?

Yes. It means the desk is finished on all sides, with drawers or panelling to the back, so it can be placed away from a wall rather than pushed against one. Thirty titles specify it, and they sit in the upper-middle of the range.

Are davenports easy to find on the market?

Reasonably. About 69 are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, and 160 different dealers have handled one, which makes it a form almost any general furniture dealer meets sooner or later. Scottish and Irish work is a visible thread, with Edinburgh-stamped examples and Irish William IV rosewood recurring. Anglo-Indian and colonial pieces surface half a dozen times and are the scarcest origins in the archive.

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Antique Davenports

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A davenport is a small, tall writing desk with a sloping top over a bank of drawers that open to one side, built for letter-writing in the corner of a room rather than the middle of it.