Trinity College, Dublin houses amongst others two of the great national treasures of Ireland, the Book of Durrow & the Book of Kells. ‘ Written, if that is the correct word for the creation of these great masterpieces, by monks in the seventh & eight centuries AD. Whilst these monks would not have known the name or concept of the later “desk”, the stand at which they worked, with its high angled back & possible shelf for materials would have been a major furniture item in the great Western monasteries in which these masterpieces where produced. Throughout the early & later medieval period very few Western kings or their subjects were literate & most of the written word was delegated to Clerks (clerics) trained in these monasteries. The type of table, of simple construction with a sloping top can still be seen in many of the libraries of ancient Universities including Trinity College. A very much later & smaller variation of this type of ‘desk’ evolved into 18th-19th century high ‘clerks desks’ & the uncomfortable pre 1950’s school desks that many of us still remember.
Today, the period where the history of modern desk designs began is considered to be the later part of the 17th Century. The end of the Thirty Years War, the Great Civil War in England & Ireland and the Restoration of Monarchy heralded a far more peaceful prosperous age . This period saw a great sea change in architecture, furniture, fashion & design. Education & literacy was now much desired . Above all, it saw the rise of a new wealthy & working middle class society, merchants & professionals who needed more than just a table at which to work but a special item of furniture complete with drawers & storage space. First of all these were of a Bureau type, still with a sloping top but with fitted interior storage space and drawers beneath. Some still made in oak, the very best now constructed in oak & pine and then covered in the lastest ‘must have’ craze from Continental Europe, veneered Walnut. Only slightly later the first, small flat top desks appeared also usually in figured veneered walnut and the era of the modern desk
began……………….cont.
A range of antique desks for sale & export can be found at
www.antiquedesks.ie