What is the most common type of oak desk?

The pedestal desk, by a wide margin. It appears in 529 of 1,339 titles, usually a late Victorian or Edwardian piece with a bank of three drawers each side. Roll-tops are second at 191 titles. Between them the two shapes account for over half the archive.

How many oak desks come up for sale?

Around 129 are listed on Sellingantiques in a year. A total of 192 different dealers have handled one, which makes this a form almost every general furniture dealer carries at some point.

Why do so many listings just say 19th Century?

Half the archive is dated only by reign or by a loose phrase. Just 674 of the 1,339 listings commit to a clean year. The bare "19th Century" bucket runs to 139 listings, and 86 titles contain "19th". That wording covers a hundred-year span and nothing narrower.

What does golden oak mean in a title?

It describes the warm honey-toned finish associated with late Victorian and Edwardian oak. The term appears in 84 titles. It is a description of colour and period feel rather than a species or a cut of timber.

Are French or other foreign oak desks common?

No. French turns up in 35 titles, and 62 titles say simply "English". Flemish, Scottish, Danish, Welsh and American each appear only once or twice across the whole sample.

What sits at the cheap end of the range?

Iron-framed school desks, children's desks and clerks' desks dominate the bottom. "Small" appears in 62 titles and clusters there. The top end is a different animal: Regency and early 19th-century partners desks in burr and pollard oak.