What is a davenport desk?

A small desk with a sloping or lifting writing top set over a chest of drawers in the side. It became a standard drawing-room piece in the 19th century. Davenports make up 379 of the listings on Sellingantiques, and about a third of current stock. The plain sloping-top version is the common one.

Why is burr walnut mentioned so often?

Burr walnut is veneer cut from a knotty growth on the tree, and it gives the dense swirling figure Victorian cabinetmakers wanted for desk tops and drawer fronts. It is named in 646 titles, almost exactly as often as the word Victorian. Figured walnut, meaning pronounced grain short of burr, appears in another 74.

How old are most walnut desks for sale?

The dated field runs from 1690 to 1940. Victorian is the largest single label, and the decade counts peak in the 1860s, 1880s and 1870s. There is a second peak in the 1900s, 1920s and 1930s, covering the Queen Anne and Georgian revival desks and the Art Deco ones. Eighteenth-century pieces exist in the archive but are few.

Which walnut desks sit at the top of the range?

Two things, mainly. Early Georgian kneehole desks, including George I and George II examples, and desks carrying a Gillows attribution. Shape also lifts a desk. Kidney-shaped and serpentine tops are uncommon in the counts but appear among the highest-priced writing desks.

What is a piano-top davenport?

A davenport with a hinged lifting top rather than a fixed slope. Piano appears in 32 titles and piano top in 26. Related variants include pop-up davenports, where a superstructure rises, named in 49 titles, plus harlequin and metamorphic examples.

Are Art Deco walnut desks part of this category?

Yes. Art Deco appears in 85 titles, and sits within the broader 1920s and 1930s group. Those two decades account for 171 and 115 listings respectively, so interwar walnut is a sizeable strand alongside the Victorian core.

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Antique Walnut Desks

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Writing furniture in walnut, from small drawing-room davenports and ladies' desks to full pedestal desks with a leather-inset top over banks of drawers.