A lap desk is a portable writing box that can be placed on the knees or on a table, opening to form a sloping writing surface, often lined with leather or baize. Known in Britain more commonly as a writing slope or writing box, it typically contains compartments for paper, letters, pens and inkwells.
Lap desks became popular in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when letter writing was a central part of daily life and people travelled with their writing equipment. Examples were made in mahogany, rosewood, walnut, coromandel and oak, often with brass corners, inset brass handles and campaign-style fittings, as well as in papier-mâché and Tunbridge ware. Better examples include secret drawers, fitted interiors, original inkwells with glass or silver tops, and locks with keys. Collectors look for attractive veneers, good brass fittings, original leather or baize writing surfaces and complete interior fittings. Cracked lids, lifting veneers, replaced writing surfaces and missing inkwells are common faults. Antique lap desks remain practical for storing correspondence and stationery, and look handsome on library tables, desks or side tables.
