Antique Serpentine Desks
A writing desk with its front cut in a shallow S-curve, usually a kneehole or pedestal desk with a leather-inset top, made for the study or the drawing room.
What Is A Serpentine Desk?
The serpentine front is a shallow curve across the facade, convex at the centre and concave at each end. It came into English cabinet work in the mid-eighteenth century as a way of relieving the flat front of a case piece, and was applied to kneehole desks and dressing tables alongside commodes.
What you will meet on Sellingantiques, though, is the revival rather than the original. The dated listings run from 1750 to 1930, but the weight sits in the twentieth century: the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s and the Edwardian label together account for the great majority. Only two listings carry a 1750s date, so the Georgian end is genuinely thin.
Mahogany names itself in 41 of the 92 titles and walnut in 34, of which 28 specify burr walnut. Beyond those two woods the field falls away fast, with single examples in pine, oak, rosewood and painted satinwood making up nearly all the remainder. Titles say 'serpentine fronted' far more often than anything else, so the curve is on the front and the sides stay straight.
Form splits three ways. Kneehole and pedestal desks dominate, single-sided or occasionally partners; about one in ten is a leg-supported writing table with frieze drawers and no pedestals; and a small group works in the mid-Georgian idiom, always described as style, revival or manner. Two davenports, a bureau de dame and a French bureau plat in kingwood marquetry have also passed through under the heading.
Where The Range Splits
Timber and figure do most of the work. A title that says only 'mahogany serpentine desk' sits low; figured mahogany, flame mahogany, and burr and figured walnut recur among the higher-priced pieces. Burr walnut is close to a defining term for the category, and the swirled veneer is the reason.
Then form and scale. Partners and twin-pedestal desks are a small group, but they occupy most of the top of the range, and the highest example on Sellingantiques is a large carved figured mahogany one. 'Large' turns up throughout the upper end, on burr walnut pedestal desks as well.
Decoration and date separate the rest. Inlay appears across the whole range, but carved, marquetry, painted satinwood and hand-decorated surfaces cluster high. So does a genuine eighteenth-century date: the 1750s, 1760s and Georgian-labelled pieces sit well above the 1900 to 1920 bulk, as do the French marquetry examples.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for serpentine desks, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Serpentine desks have been listed on Sellingantiques since 2010.
The Antique Serpentine Desks Glossary
- Serpentine fronted
- The curve runs across the front only and the sides stay straight. It is the commonest phrasing in the category, used in 14 titles.
- Kneehole
- The recessed central space between two banks of drawers, for the sitter's legs. Dealers spell it three ways: 12 titles say kneehole, 8 say knee hole, and one writes knee-hole.
- Pedestal desk
- A desk carried on two drawer-filled pedestals rather than legs. Fourteen titles use the word.
- Partners desk
- Double-sided, with drawers or cupboards on both faces, made for two people working opposite each other.
- Writing table
- Leg-supported, with a writing surface and shallow frieze drawers, no pedestals underneath. About one in ten listings here.
- Burr walnut
- Veneer cut from a knotty growth on the tree, giving a dense swirled figure. Named in 28 of the titles.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are serpentine desks Georgian?
A few are. The dated field runs back to 1750, but only two listings carry a 1750s date, and one sample is labelled simply Georgian.
The great majority are late Victorian to inter-war, with the 1900s, 1910s and 1920s carrying most of the weight. The serpentine front was an eighteenth-century idea revived in quantity around 1900.
What wood are they usually made from?
Mahogany and walnut, and little else. Mahogany appears in 41 of the 92 titles, walnut in 34, and 28 of those walnut listings specify burr.
Everything else is a small tail: single examples in pine, oak, rosewood and painted satinwood account for almost the whole remainder.
How many come up for sale?
About nine a year on Sellingantiques, and 51 different dealers have listed one.
That spread tells you something. It is a category almost nobody stocks in depth, so pieces arrive one at a time rather than in runs.
Does the curve go round the sides too?
Usually not. The phrasing that dominates the titles is 'serpentine fronted', and only one sample in the whole archive says 'serpentine sided'.
So the shallow S-curve is a front-facing feature, with straight sides behind it.
Which examples sit at the top of the range?
Partners desks, double-sided for two people facing each other, occupy most of the upper end despite being a small group. The highest is a large carved figured mahogany one.
Size and figure count for a great deal alongside that. Large burr walnut pedestal desks and flame or figured mahogany examples run well above plainer work.
Are writing tables included under this heading?
Yes. Around one in ten listings is a leg-supported writing table with shallow frieze drawers rather than a pedestal desk, in burr walnut or mahogany.
Two davenports and a bureau de dame have also come through, along with a French bureau plat in kingwood marquetry. Continental pieces turn up once in a blue moon.