From Preston to Cumbria, antique desks are found in every shape and form imaginable. Now popular again after a long period of decline, they range from delicate 18th century writing tables, to heavy oak pedestal and partner desks.
Most people buying antique desks in Cumbria and Preston do so because they want a charming, but useful piece of utility furniture. With this in mind, it’s worth having a look at how the different styles originated, what their purpose was, and how it equates with their use today. It’s easy to be swayed by the charm of, say, an 18th century Davenport desk, without thinking about its practicality when installed in a corner at home.
Postcards from Cumbria - antique desks for light users
If your home office needs are down to a place to park your laptop and run off the occasional hand-written letter or greetings card, then a writing table may suffice. Writing desks arrived with the expansion of the fledgling Royal Mail service, in the mid-18th century. Fast new mail coaches meant letters written would often arrive the same day – and the age of written correspondence was born.
Antique desks of this sort are uncluttered, light and elegant, and have come back in vogue with executives now that so much filing is done online. Basically a slim table with one or two drawers for letter-writing equipment, there was no need for much in the way of storage. Used in upper-class homes, the better designed ones would often have a decorative apron below the writing surface, with a cut-out to give more legroom. They would also have a leather writing surface, which was considered kinder to quills than wood; even in Preston,
antique desks with original leather tops are rare, but those that do turn up are worth investing in.
Sheraton antique desks
The simple design of writing desks made them limited in scope. However, in the late 18th century, Thomas Sheraton developed a desk that retained the concept of a writing table with drawers, but added further storage space with a galley of pigeonholes and drawers on the desktop, with a working space in front. George Washington, meanwhile, introduced a different design with drawers either side – this was the forerunner of the bulkier pedestal desk which followed.
The Sheraton style combined functionality with beauty and craftsmanship. Elegant and feminine – they are often described as ladies desks - Sheratons are among the most popular antique desks in Cumbria and Lancashire today. When the workmanlike pedestal and partners desks appeared in offices, the Sheraton continued to uphold its popularity, being endlessly copied in the Revival period.
Gillows – antique desks from Lancashire
Gillows of Lancaster is Lancashire’s most famous maker of antique desks. Their designs ranged from delicate kidney-shaped ladies desks, which were often used as dressing tables, to highly functional but beautifully galleried Sheraton desks of the Aesthetic Movement.
Probably Gillows most popular designs were their handsome, refined pedestal and partner desks of the late Victorian and Edwardian era. These antique desks are still popular in Lancashire boardrooms today. From Cumbria to Preston, antique desks were found in every working environment, from stately homes to industrial factories.
The author, Christian Davies, is a second generation antiques dealer and owner of Christian Davies Antiques, a family based antiques business based in Preston, Lancashire.
Christian has over 23 years experience in the antiques business and has a passion for genuine, high quality antiques furniture, such as antique desks, which he sources from the UK and Europe.
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