What is a partners desk?

A desk with drawers or cupboards to both faces and a kneehole on each side, so two people can work opposite one another. It's finished all round, which means it stands in the room rather than against a wall. It's the defining variant in this category. Ninety-nine titles say partners and sixty-three say partners desk outright, and one sample runs to four pedestals.

Which wood is most common?

Mahogany, by a wide margin. It accounts for 160 of 294 titles, with walnut at 39 and oak at 38 roughly tied behind it. Other timbers appear only once or twice across the samples: pitch pine, teak, satinwood, kingwood, pollard oak and burr oak.

How old are these desks?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1930, with 121 listings carrying a clean year. The earliest is a George I walnut library table dated 1700. Much of the labelling is broad. "19th Century" is the largest bucket and "Victorian" the next, so half the dating gives a century or a reign rather than a decade.

Do library desks come apart?

The pedestal form is commonly made in three parts: the top lifts off two separate pedestals. That's how a desk of this size gets through a doorway. Because it's finished on all sides, it was meant to be seen from every angle.

How many come up for sale each year?

About twenty-six a year on Sellingantiques, spread across 117 different dealers who have listed one at some point. That means few dealers hold more than a piece or two at a time.

Are French desks found in this category?

Occasionally. Nine bureaux plats appear across the archive, alongside Directoire, Napoleon III and Empire examples, some ebonised or in kingwood. Italian, Anglo-Indian and Chinese pieces turn up in small numbers too. The bulk of the category remains British.

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Antique Library Desks

213 items · page 2 of 14

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Large free-standing writing furniture made for the library or study: twin-pedestal desks with banks of drawers, and flat-topped tables on legs, built to be worked at from one side or both.

19th century

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Regency Mahogany Pedestal Desk

From Gary Wright Antiques Ltd

£2,800

FOR SALE

desks

19th century

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French Desks Antique Empire Knee Hole Bureau Desk 1890

From Canonbury Antiques

£1,590

FOR SALE

desks

Oak Partners Desk with Leather Writing Surface

1900 - 1920

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Oak Partners Desk with Leather Writing Surface

From Shackladys Antiques

£3,850

FOR SALE

desks

Antique Georgian Mahogany Writing Table | Home Office Desk

18th century

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Antique Georgian Mahogany Writing Table | Home Office Desk

From ActFurniture LTD

£825

FOR SALE

desks

19th century

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Carved Walnut Italian Desk .

From Adrian Hornsey Antiques

£3,400

FOR SALE

desks

A Handsome Circa 1900 Bleached Oak Pedestal Desk

1900 - 1920

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A Handsome Circa 1900 Bleached Oak Pedestal Desk

From Marlborough Antiques & Interiors

£2,250

FOR SALE

desks

18th century

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18th Century Marquetry Inlaid Mahogany Writing Desk

From LTANTIQUES.CO.UK

£1,250

FOR SALE

desks

Victorian Chippendale Desk Mahogany Leather Top Writing Table Circa 1890

19th century

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Victorian Chippendale Desk Mahogany Leather Top Writing Table Circa 1890

From Canonbury Antiques

£2,600

FOR SALE

desks

Antique Victorian Mahogany Writing Table / Desk

19th century

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Antique Victorian Mahogany Writing Table / Desk

From Marylebone Antiques

£885

FOR SALE

desks

19th century

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Howard and Sons Walnut Desk

From Ropeworks Antiques

£680

FOR SALE

desks

The top sale of the last year on Sellingantiques was an early 19th century George IV mahogany two-drawer writing table in the manner of Gillows, in November 2025.

19th century

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Trollope & Sons Desk

From Nethermill Antiques

£690

FOR SALE

desks

C19th High Quality Walnut Twin Pedestal Three Part Desk

19th century

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C19th High Quality Walnut Twin Pedestal Three Part Desk

From Beresford Antiques LTD

£965

FOR SALE

desks

Large, Quality George III Mahogany Free-standing Partners Desk in Original Condition

19th century

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Large, Quality George III Mahogany Free-standing Partners Desk in Original Condition

From Georgian Antiques

£3,950

FOR SALE

desks

Antique Victorian Mahogany Pedestal Desk | Green Writing Surface

19th century

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Antique Victorian Mahogany Pedestal Desk | Green Writing Surface

From ActFurniture LTD

£685

FOR SALE

desks

19th century

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19th Century Mahogany Partners Desk

From Treasury Antiques

£1,650

FOR SALE

desks

19th century

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Victorian Mahogany Pedestal Desk

From Roger King Antiques

£495

FOR SALE

desks

← 1 2 3 4 5 ... 14 →

Antique Library Desks

Regency Mahogany Pedestal Desk

French Desks Antique Empire Knee Hole Bureau Desk 1890

Oak Partners Desk with Leather Writing Surface

Antique Georgian Mahogany Writing Table | Home Office Desk

Carved Walnut Italian Desk .

A Handsome Circa 1900 Bleached Oak Pedestal Desk

18th Century Marquetry Inlaid Mahogany Writing Desk

Victorian Chippendale Desk Mahogany Leather Top Writing Table Circa 1890

Antique Victorian Mahogany Writing Table / Desk

Howard and Sons Walnut Desk

Trollope & Sons Desk

C19th High Quality Walnut Twin Pedestal Three Part Desk

Large, Quality George III Mahogany Free-standing Partners Desk in Original Condition

Antique Victorian Mahogany Pedestal Desk | Green Writing Surface

19th Century Mahogany Partners Desk

Victorian Mahogany Pedestal Desk

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