What wood are Georgian desks usually made from?

Mahogany, and by a wide margin. It is named in 281 of 448 titles, with walnut second at 66 and oak at 23. Rarer timbers appear once each: yew veneer, partridgewood, pollard oak, burr elm, fiddleback walnut and Virginia walnut. Burr walnut carries 13 titles and satinwood 10.

Are all Georgian desks actually from the Georgian period?

No. A large block of the category is Georgian-style or Georgian Revival work of roughly 1880 to 1930, described as being in the taste rather than of the period. The dated field bears this out: 37 listings in the 1920s, 11 each in the 1910s, 1930s and 1880s. Titles carry "revival" 11 times.

How is a kneehole desk different from a pedestal desk?

A kneehole desk is a single case with the centre recessed for the sitter's legs. A pedestal desk has a flat top carried on two separate banks of drawers. Kneehole is the more common of the two on Sellingantiques, appearing in 126 titles plus 20 written as "knee hole". Pedestal accounts for 78.

Why do some listings advertise a desk as small?

Because smallness sells in this category. Thirty-nine titles say "small", and the samples include a "very small", a "diminutive" and a "miniature" oak kneehole. Some dealers put the width straight into the title, at 30 or 31 inches. Compact kneeholes recur high in the range, alongside the full-size partners desks at the other extreme.

What is a Carlton House desk?

A writing table with a tiered superstructure curving round the back and sides of the top. It is an uncommon form under this heading, appearing nine times across the whole archive. One of the highest-placed pieces in the samples is a George III mahogany example.

How many Georgian desks come up for sale?

Around 44 a year, and 144 different dealers have listed one. Almost every general furniture dealer touches the category at some point. The dated listings span 1700 to 1930, a 230-year run under a single heading. Origins outside England are scarce, with one American pedestal desk, one Dutch writing slope and two Irish desks in over four hundred listings.

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Antique Georgian Desks

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Writing furniture in the eighteenth-century English taste: mahogany case desks with a recessed centre for the sitter's knees, or a flat top carried on two banks of drawers, made for letters and ledgers.