Desk Photos

Antique desks & writing tables in the collections of various museums & museum houses.

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Early Desks Bailiff's Room with writing desk on table & great chair at Castle Fraser. Aberdeenshire, Scotland Drop-front writing desk plus brazier in Captain's office at Spanish Governor's Palace. San Antonio, TX Spanish drop-front desk under painting by Sir Anthony van Dyck at Hyde House. Glens Falls, NY
Bureau Tables Bureau table from Salem or Boston at Peabody Essex Museum. Salem, MA Bureau table attrib. to John Townsend from Newport, RI at Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, CT Vernis Martin pâpier maché desk in long gallery at Scone Palace. Perth, Scotland
Standing Desks Standing desk in study at Chatillon-DeMenil Mansion. St. Louis, MO Standing desk in another lawyer's office which shared Lincoln-Herndon law office building. Springfield, IL Millard Fillmore's standing law desk at Millard Fillmore House. East Aurora, NY
Portable Desks George Washington's portable writing case used during Revolutionary War at National Museum of American History. Washington, DC Field desk used at Vicksburg battle by an Illinois quartermaster. Vicksburg, MS Desk on sawhorse-style supports in closed open at Conde-Charlotte Museum. Mobile, AL
Fold-open Lap Desks Portable antique lap desk at Alice Austen House Museum. Staten Island, NY Field desk of Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny who took control of New Mexico in the Mexican-American War at New Mexico History Museum. Santa Fe, NM Lap desk & gimbaled candleholder at Columbia River Maritime Museum. Astoria, OR
Slant-Top Desks Richard Hale's writing desk at Nathan Hale Homestead Museum. Coventry, CT Desk & Windsor chair with rockers from Henry David Thoreau's house on Walden Pond at Concord Museum. Concord, MA Slant-top desk painted with scenes with armchair at Beauvoir. Biloxi, MS
Davenport Desks Side of Davenport desk at Ida Saxton McKinley Historic House. Canton, OH Davenport desk with scrolled legs in dining room at Drum Castle. Drumoak, Scotland Chinese Davenport desk at Peabody Essex Museum. Salem, MA
Wooten Desks Some of the 110 compartments in Wooton desk at Museum of Western Art. Kerrville, TX Mail slot in Wooton desk at Museum of Western Art. Kerrville, TX Wooten Patent Desk from Indiana at A.R. Mitchell Museum of Western Art. Trinidad, CO
Kneehole Desks Writing desk with four drawers by Jean-François Hache of Grenoble at Musées des Arts Décoratifs. Lyon, France Desk & bookcase by Ladislaus Zdzieblowski of Chicago, IL made for 1893 World's Columbian Exposition at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Marquetry desk in library at Haddo House. Methlick, Scotland
Partners Desks Partners desk by Cohen & Co. at Tudor Place. Washington, DC Partner's desk used at White House by President McKinley at William McKinley Presidential Museum & Library. Canton, OH Partners desk with clock & ministerial red dispatch boxes in library at Scone Palace. Perth, Scotland
Artistic & Unusual Desks Inlaid secretary with mirrors from Italy at Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, MI Combination woman's desk & vanity table by Josef Haupt at Historical Museum of City of Vienna. Vienna, Austria Fall-front desk from Vienna, Austria at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL
Arts & Crafts Desks Drop-front desk by Harvey Ellis of Craftsman Workshops, Eastwood, NY at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Desk by Frank Lloyd Wright at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Walnut desk inlaid with copper & pewter by Gustav Stickley at Brooklyn Museum. Brooklyn, NY
Modern Desks Desk & chair by Henry van de Velde at Musée d'Orsay. Paris, France Writing table by Richard Riemerschmid for Dresdner Werkstätten für Handwerkskunst of Dresden at Pinakothek der Moderne. Munich, Germany Desk of polished zinc by Michel Dufet at Museum of Fine Arts. Reims, France
Slanted Drop-front Desks without Bookcase Dropfront desk from Boston, MA with portrait of Henry Gibbs by unknown at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Desk attrib. Felix Huntington of Norwich, CT with Col. John Harleston portrait by Charles Willson Peale at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Victorian mahogany Colonial Revival desk by Paine Furniture Co. at Kingscote. Newport, RI
Slanted Drop-front Desks with Bookcase Drop front desk with bookcase at Silas Deane House. Wethersfield, CT Desk & bookcase from Boston beside side chair from New York at Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, CT Secretary with looping window pattern on library portion from England at Hill-Stead Museum. Farmington, CT
Vertical Drop-front Desks Drop front desk at Museum of Texas Handmade Furniture. New Braunfels, TX Drop front desk in parlor of Baetge House at Conservation Plaza. New Braunfels, TX Bookcase & secretary desk with pull out writing surface plus filing drawers in Boudoir at Castletown House. Ireland
Drop-front Desks with Fold-Open Writing Surfaces Fold down desk which belonged Jesse Deane son of Silas at Silas Deane House. Wethersfield, CT Desk owned by Henry David Thoreau's family at Concord Museum. Concord, MA Dropfront desk & bookcase at Johnston Farm. Piqua, OH
Drawer Drop-front Desks Early-American drop-front desk & bookcase at Gardner Pingree House. Salem, MA Secretary desk at Custom House Museum. Sag Harbor, NY Dropfront desk with cupboard at Johnston Farm. Piqua, OH
Display Cabinet with Drop-front Desk Drop front desk with display case at Tombstone Courthouse Museum. Tombstone, AZ Side-by-side bookcase & desk at Sauer-Beckmann Farmstead. Stonewall, TX Art Nouveau writing desk & bookcase c1900-5 by Hector Guimard of France with French glass collection at McNay Art Museum. San Antonio, TX
Roll-top Desks Roll top desk made by Joseph Stockel of Paris plus collection of globes in Michigan period library at DAR Memorial Continental Hall. Washington, DC Presidential desk of Grover Cleveland at Warp Pioneer Village. Minden, NE Slatted closing desk & large coffee grinder at Bird Cage Theatre. Tombstone, AZ
Chairs with Writing Desk Arms Windsor chair with writing arm, two drawers & offset back to allow for arm movement at Oliver Ellsworth Homestead Museum. Windsor, CT Writing chair at Craik-Patton House. Charleston, WV Windsor chair with writing desk arm by Ebenezer Macey in Maple bedroom at Bayou Bend. Houston, TX
School Desks White Oak School interior at Pioneer Museum. Fredericksburg, TX Interior of Merry one-room school at Historic Lyme Village Museum. Bellevue, OH School desk at Strokestown Park. Vesnoy, Ireland
Presidential Desks Replica of Resolute Desk used by Kennedy in 'White House in JFK Library. Boston, MA Abraham Lincoln's desk in Lincoln Home. Springfield, IL Desk used by Congressman McKinley in Canton & grandfather clock that stood in first courthouse in Canton at William McKinley Presidential Museum & Library. Canton, OH
Legislative Desks House of Representatives chamber of Hawaii State Capitol. Honolulu, HI House chamber of Massachusetts State House. Boston, MA Speakers desk in Senate at Vermont State House. Montpelier, VT
Writing & Conference Tables Room with French decorative elements including writing table at J. Paul Getty Museum Center. Malibu, CA Writing desk under portrait of Abigail Adams at John Quincy Adams birthplace. Quincy, MA Slant desk said to have been used by Sam Houston when he lived in Austin at McCulloch House. Waco, TX
Desk sets & Inkwells Silver replica of Independence Hall inkstand by Gebelein Silversmiths Inc. of Boston, MA at Yale University Art Gallery. New Haven, CT Lucretia Garfield's writing case at Garfield NHS. Mentor, OH Green glass & brass desk set at Gillette Castle State Park. East Haddam, CT
Germanic Desks Tabernacle writing cabinet from Franconia at Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Nuremberg, Germany Secretary cabinet by David Roentgen of Neuwied, Germany at Art Institute of Chicago. Chicago, IL Desk of cherry wood, leather & glass from Schröder House, Hagen by Peter Behrens at Hamburg Decorative Arts Museum. Hamburg, Germany
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All photos on this page are originals by & copyrighted by Jim Steinhart.
All rights reserved. Permission required to use.

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