Writing furniture is the general term for furniture designed for writing, reading and keeping correspondence and papers, including desks, writing tables, bureaux, secretaires, davenports, bonheurs du jour and escritoires. Such pieces reflect changing patterns of business, study and private correspondence over several centuries.
The earliest English writing furniture took the form of portable boxes and slopes placed on tables. In the late seventeenth century the fall-front escritoire and slant-front bureau became fashionable, often veneered in walnut, and by the eighteenth century the bureau bookcase and pedestal desk were established in libraries and studies. Fine writing tables, sometimes with leather tops and fitted drawers, appeared in the work of Chippendale, Gillows and other leading makers. The Regency and Victorian periods added smaller and more specialised forms, such as the compact davenport, the ladies' bonheur du jour, the Carlton House desk and the partners' desk. Collectors consider the quality of timber and construction, original leathers, locks and handles, well-fitted interiors with pigeonholes and secret compartments, and whether the proportions suit modern rooms. Writing furniture remains highly practical and continues to be used in home offices and libraries.
