A Davenport desk, (sometimes originally known as a Devonport desk) is a small

desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...

with an inclined lifting desktop attached with hinges to the back of the body. Lifting the desktop accesses a large compartment with storage space for paper and other writing implements, and smaller spaces in the forms of small drawers and pigeonholes. The Davenport has drawers on one of its sides, which are sometimes concealed by a panel. This stack of side drawers holds up the back of the desk and most of its weight.

Overview

The front of the desk stands on thick legs or pillars which are often highly carved, somewhat exaggerated, thick

cabriole A cabriole leg is one of (usually) four vertical supports of a piece of furniture shaped in two curves; the upper arc is convex, while lower is concave; the upper curve always bows outward, while the lower curve bows inward; with the axes of the t ...

legs, but these are not essential. Davenport desks of the 19th century had a variety of different leg designs. The desk shape is distinctive; its top part resembles an antique

school desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading, writing, or using equipment such as a computer. Desks oft ...

while the bottom is like one of the two drawer-pedestals of a

pedestal desk A pedestal desk or a ''tanker desk'' is usually a large, flat, free-standing desk made of a simple rectangular working surface resting on two pedestals or small cabinets of stacked drawers of one or two sizes, with plinths around the bases. Oft ...

turned sideways. The addition of the two legs in front completes the odd effect. This desk owes its name to a Captain Josiah Davenport (1771–1836) who was the first to commission the design, from Gillows of Lancaster, near the end of the 18th century. In a sense then it could also be considered a

campaign desk A campaign desk is an antique desk of normal size which was used by officers and their staffs in rear areas during a military campaign. The campaign desk was usually the private property of the officer, as was his uniform and other military impl ...

though there are no records indicating if Captain Davenport was in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

or the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Josiah Davenport had a ship named the Cleopatra and he was a merchant mariner. This desk form was popular during the 19th century. There have been numerous reproductions during the 20th century, and amateur cabinetmakers sometimes consider a Davenport to be an interesting project. The Davenport desk should not be confused with the Davenport sofa, which is usually a modern combination sofa and bed or an

antique An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

form of upholstered sofa based on a design conceived at the beginning of the 20th century by a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, company called

A. H. Davenport and Company A. H. Davenport and Company was a late 19th-century, early 20th-century American furniture manufacturer, cabinetmaker, and interior decoration firm. Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it sold luxury items at its showrooms in Boston and New York Ci ...

Citations

General and cited references

* Aronson, Joseph (1965)
''The Encyclopedia of Furniture''
. 3rd ed. New York: Crown Publishers. * Gloag, John (1991)
''A Complete Dictionary of Furniture''
{{Registration required. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press. Desks

Overview

See also

Citations

General and cited references