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A rolltop desk is a 19th-century reworking of the pedestal desk with, in addition, a series of stacked compartments, shelves, drawers and nooks in front of the user, much like the bureau à gradin or the Carlton House desk. In contrast to these, the compartments and the desktop surface of a rolltop desk can be covered by means of a ''tambour'' consisting of linked wooden slats that roll or slide through slots in the raised sides of the desk. In that, it is a descendant in function, and partly in form, of the cylinder desk of the 18th century. It is a relative of the tambour desk, whose slats retract horizontally rather than vertically. The rolltop desk was re-invented by Jacob Alles in Jasper, Indiana in 1879. "About 1760 Jean-François Oeben designed a new type of bureau: the original rolltop desk. The writing area can be covered by a shutter made of flexible slats, which is rolled round a cylinder hidden behind the top tier of drawers. In the Château de Versailles is found the most famous example of this type of desk, the "bureau du roi," which was begun by Oeben in 1760 and finished by Riesener. Riesener made several rolltop desks; the one for Thierrry de Ville d'Avray indicates that the Louis XV style was not yet regarded as outmoded in the 1780s".https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rolltop-desk
File:Rolltop desk.JPG, Typical rolltop desk
File:Side-view sketch of rolltop desk.png
File:Rolltop desk sketch.jpg
A rolltop desk is a 19th-century reworking of the pedestal desk with, in addition, a series of stacked compartments, shelves, drawers and nooks in front of the user, much like the bureau à gradin or the Carlton House desk. In contrast to these, the compartments and the desktop surface of a rolltop desk can be covered by means of a ''tambour'' consisting of linked wooden slats that roll or slide through slots in the raised sides of the desk. In that, it is a descendant in function, and partly in form, of the cylinder desk of the 18th century. It is a relative of the tambour desk, whose slats retract horizontally rather than vertically. The rolltop desk was re-invented by Jacob Alles in Jasper, Indiana in 1879. "About 1760 Jean-François Oeben designed a new type of bureau: the original rolltop desk. The writing area can be covered by a shutter made of flexible slats, which is rolled round a cylinder hidden behind the top tier of drawers. In the Château de Versailles is found the most famous example of this type of desk, the "bureau du roi," which was begun by Oeben in 1760 and finished by Riesener. Riesener made several rolltop desks; the one for Thierrry de Ville d'Avray indicates that the Louis XV style was not yet regarded as outmoded in the 1780s".https://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/rolltop-desk
Production
Unlike the cylinder desk, the rolltop desk could be mass-produced rather easily since the simple wooden slats could be turned out very fast in a uniform way. In contrast, the wooden section of a cylinder had to be treated with great pains to keep its form perfectly over time, lest it warp or bend, and make it impossible to retract or extend. The wooden slats of the rolltop's tambour were usually joined together by being all attached to a cloth or leather foundation, and were thus less influenced by the problems which plagued the cylinder desk.Usage
The rolltop desk was the mainstay of the small or medium-sizedoffice
An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific d ...
at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.
Because it was produced in vast numbers and at varying levels of quality, the rolltop desk is popular in the antique market. It is usually expensive especially if the wood used is expensive. It is also popular amongst set decorator
The set decorator is the head of the set decoration department in the film and television industry, responsible for selecting, designing, fabricating, and sourcing the "set dressing" elements of each set in a Feature Film, Television, or New Media ...
s who want to recreate the ambience of an office of the late 19th or early 20th century.
Gallery
See also
*List of desk forms and types
This is a list of different types and forms of desks.
Desk forms and types
* Armoire desk
* Bargueño desk
* Bible box
* Bonheur du jour
* Bureau à gradin
* Bureau brisé
* Bureau capucin
* Bureau Mazarin
*''Bureau plat'', see Writing table
* ...
* A. Cutler & Son
References
{{reflist *Baumert, Kenneth. "Building a rolltop desk: Interlocking slats form an all-wood tambour." ''Fine Woodworking''. Volume 79. December 1989. pp. 48–53. *Gloag, John. ''A Complete Dictionary of Furniture.'' Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 1991. Desks History of furniture