Writing table

Writing table

A writing table (French "bureau plat") has a series of drawers directly under the surface of the table, to contain writing implements, so that it may serve as a desk. Antique versions have the usual divisions for the inkpot, the blotter and the sand or powder tray in one of the drawers, and a surface covered with leather or some other material less hostile to the Quill or the Fountain pen than simple hard wood.

In form, a writing table is a Pedestal desk without the pedestals, having legs instead to hold it up. This is why such tables are sometimes called leg desks.

The writing table is often called a "Bureau plat" when it is done in a French style such as Louis XVI, Art Nouveau, etc. When a writing table is supported by two legs instead of four, it is usually called a Trestle desk.

The writing table is also sometimes called a library table, because it was often placed in a rich individual's library. This was the room in a house where a gentleman would keep literature and also do his business transactions. The library often housed, in addition, a round desk called a Rent table and sometimes a Drawing table. The term library table is sometimes applied indiscriminately to a wide variety of desk forms, in addition to being used for writing tables. Let the scholar or the buyer be wary.

Some writing tables have additional drawers built above the surface. In this case they are often called Bureau a gradin instead of writing table, unless they have a more specific form, such as that of a Carlton house desk.

As with many other desk forms antique writing tables were sometimes built with what was, at the time, a complex mechanism of gears and levers to make sections slide out or pop up when certain panels were pulled. In this case one sometimes called them a Mechanical desk.

ee also

* list of desk forms and types

References

* Gloag, John. A Complete Dictionary of Furniture. Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 1991.
* Oglesby, Catharine. French Provincial Decorative Art. New YorkCharles Scribner's Sons, 1951.
* Romand, Didier. L'argus des meubles. Paris: Balland, 1976.
* Souchal, Genevieve. French Eighteeenth Century Furniture. Translated by Simon Watson Taylor. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1963.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Writing table — Writing Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • writing table — noun a desk used for writing • Syn: ↑secretary, ↑escritoire, ↑secretaire • Hypernyms: ↑desk * * * writing table noun A table designed or used for writing on • • • Main Entry: ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • writing table — /ˈraɪtɪŋ teɪbəl/ (say ruyting taybuhl) noun a table fitted or used for writing on …  

  • writing table — n. escritoire, writing desk …   English contemporary dictionary

  • writing-table — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Writing — Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Writing book — Writing Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Writing desk — Writing Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Writing lark — Writing Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Writing machine — Writing Writ ing, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”