How do I clean the leather top?

Wipe it with a slightly damp cloth to remove dust. Don't use harsh chemical sprays. Feed the leather occasionally with a clear wax polish.

I want to place my desk in the centre of a large modern home office, but I am worried the back might look unfinished or have exposed rough wood.

Most genuine library desks were built to stand in the middle of a room. The back isn't left bare. The cabinetmaker finished the rear with the same care as the front, often adding polished panelling or dummy drawer fronts to maintain symmetry. Pedestal variations might have functioning cupboards on the reverse side. You rarely find raw timber or unpolished carcase wood exposed.

Can they be dismantled for moving?

That depends on the form. Pedestal variations usually break down into three pieces. The top simply lifts off the two bases, making them easy to move through narrow doorways. Table-form models usually stay in one piece. Sometimes the legs can be unbolted on later Victorian examples, but earlier frames are glued and pegged solid.

The drawers on my desk stick when I try to pull them out, and one side seems to drop lower than the other when it is halfway open.

Drawer runners wear down over time. The wooden strips inside the carcase bear the friction of the drawer being opened and closed for centuries. A cabinetmaker can restore the running surfaces by adding new slips of timber. Rubbing candle wax on the drawer sides offers a short-term fix to ease the sticking.

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Antique Library Desks in East of England

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Antique library desks are large, freestanding tables fitted with frieze drawers, originally designed to sit in the centre of a room rather than against a wall to provide a broad workspace for reading and writing.

1900 - 1920

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Shapland and Petter Desk

From John Howkins Antiques

£1,150

APPROVED 3+ MONTHS AGO

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Regency Mahogany Chamber Writing Table in the Style of 'Gillows'.

19th century

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Regency Mahogany Chamber Writing Table in the Style of 'Gillows'.

From E W Cousins and Son

£3,250

APPROVED 3+ MONTHS AGO

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Antique Library Desks in East of England

Shapland and Petter Desk

Regency Mahogany Chamber Writing Table in the Style of 'Gillows'.

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