Top 5 Most Valuable Antique Roll Top Desks in The World Today
| S/N | Name | Release Date | Price |
| 1 | Dutch Neoclassical Marquetry Roll Top De ... | 1790 | $12,000 |
| 2 | Walnut Pedestal Roll Top Desk | 1900 | $5,477.42 |
| 3 | 1940 Oak Roll Top Desk | 1940 | $5,200 |
| 4 | Antique American Mahogany “s” Roll Top D ... | 1910 | $1,250 |
Full Answer
How much is my roll-top desk worth?
Factors Affecting Roll Top Desk ValueAge - Older desks in will be worth more, generally, than similar newer desks in the same condition. ... Condition - Has it been painted or refinished? ... Rarity - Some desks, like the Cutler Roll Top, are rarer than others.More items...
What do you call a desk with roll top?
rolltop desk, desk with a sliding roll top, or tambour, that encloses the working surface of the upper part and can be locked.
Are roll top desks in style?
Too much paperwork caused roll top desks in the nineteenth century to go out of style. Today, roll top desks are cherished by those who appreciate their classic design – which brings us to our next point.
What is the point of a roll-top desk?
Roll-top desks meant for quick correspondence that was necessary when making them. They had small shelves, pigeonholes, and drawers to store stamps, envelopes, ink, new writing papers, and other writing utilities. Additionally, it has a tambour or slatted wood cover that rolls down whenever one needs to write.
When did they stop making roll top desks?
Antique Roll Top Desk Makers produced different types of antique roll top desks and stayed in business till 1877.
How much is a desk worth?
The materials, size, functionality, and finish options available on office desks result in a price range that varies from about $99 to as high as $7,200. Most office desks would fall somewhere in the $285 – $1,200 range.
Are roll-top desks practical?
Roll-top desks are practical, reliable and durable. They also make a stylish addition to any room. With a roll-top desk, you never have to worry about how messy or disorganized the desk is.
How can I tell how old my roll-top desk is?
Examine the Joints Look closely for irregular saw cuts or a rough appearance, indicating the desk was likely an early roll-top desk, possibly built prior to 1890. A precise, identical joints suggest a mass-produced desk, probably constructed a few years before 1900 or later.
How heavy is a roll-top desk?
Roll Top Desk - Red OakWeight350.00 lbsShipping Weight350.00 lbsStock #OFLRT3060RMRP0Builder1096Dimensions46H x 60W x 30D6 more rows
What design style is a roll top desk?
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.
When were Oak Crest roll top desks made?
This is an antique early 20th century, Edwardian era, Arts & Crafts/Mission style, single 3-drawer pedestal and single off-center drawer, oak wood desk with s-curved tambour roll front that was produced by Ramsey-Alton Manufacturing Co of Portland, Michigan between 1905 - 1915 in their Oak Craft line.
How do you remove a tambour roll top desk?
Open the roll-top portion of the desk, looking inside for straps or screws which hold the top onto the rest of the desk. Remove the screws with a slotted screwdriver. Lift the roll-top portion of the desk and slide out the tambour, or slatted door, setting it cloth-side up on top of the replacement cloth.
How can you tell a real Davenport desk?
Some key characteristics of davenports include a gallery around the top, leading on to a sloping lid, most often opening up to reveal a storage space. Some davenports are also fitted with a spring-loaded section to the top and a combination of drawers to the sides (both real and dummy drawers).
How do I fix the roller on my roll top desk?
0:4411:00How To Repair A Rolltop Tambour Door - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo I can figure out the correct depth in order to cut a piece of wood and put a notch in it. So IMoreSo I can figure out the correct depth in order to cut a piece of wood and put a notch in it. So I can use that as a clamp to hold the tampers in place in order to do this.
What to do with a rolltop desk?
Used in excess, any collection will work in cohesion with a rolltop's drawers to cue up a vignette with avant-garde appeal. True, the look may be a bit polarizing, but it’s a wonderful way to use eccentricity in your favor and usher in a feeling of unexpected cool. If a cluttered workspace sounds like the equivalent of low-key torture, consider surrounding an antique rolltop with a gallery wall made up of small-scale paintings or photos. The paintings’ square shape will visually tie into the rolltop’s myriad of tiny drawers, creating instant cohesion, not to mention, maximalist splendor.
How to make a roll top desk look modern?
Yet another way to make an old rolltop desk feel uniquely modern is to recast it as a piece other than a desk. For instance, use a vintage rolltop desk as an entry console , or as an end-of-the-hallway credenza. Choose a striking burl wood number—a blocky Biedermeier model would certainly wow—or something stately like a mahogany Georgian rolltop to make your set-up feel designed with intention. A central location like a hallway encourages a vintage rolltop to be used as odds-and-ends storage piece—an ultra-chic junk drawer of sorts? Diminutive drawers can be used to stow everyday equipage, by which we mean the nuts and bolts that everyone needs to have readily on hand, but no one actually wants to see. Designate a drawer for batteries, old phone chargers, metro cards, flashlights, thank you cards, sunglasses, stamps, extra sets of guest keys. The trick is to keep drawers restricted to a singular-use—no mixing pens and pencils, for instance. To intermingle would be to defeat the organizational mastery that only an antique rolltop desk can offer.
When did roll top desks start?
Born out of well-heeled Victorians’ demand for bigger desks to outfit their expanding homes, the rolltop desk first surfaced around 1870. Rolltop desks instantly dwarfed dainty writing desks, offering spacious writing surfaces that were encased in a bank of small drawers intended for corralling writing instruments, letterhead, and stationary. To keep everything looking tidy, the writing surface and accompanying drawers could be enclosed in a rolling, slatted-wood cover. Some vintage rolltop desks featured a typical kneehole, while others forewent one in favor of a writing surface that could be slid out when needed. The latter resulted in antique rolltop desks that could be easily mistaken for a dresser, if not for their uniquely domed tops.
What can you use a diminutive drawer for?
Diminutive drawers can be used to stow everyday equipage, by which we mean the nuts and bolts that everyone needs to have readily on hand, but no one actually wants to see. Designate a drawer for batteries, old phone chargers, metro cards, flashlights, thank you cards, sunglasses, stamps, extra sets of guest keys.
Is it difficult to rethink a roll top desk?
Rethinking the vintage rolltop desk isn’t actually as difficult as one might initially think. With a little ingenuity and a willingness to employ one in a space other than an office, an antique rolltop desk can feel wholly 21st century.
When did roll top desks come into use?
Roll top desks first came into use in England and France in the late 1700s. The roll top is actually the evolution of a couple of popular desk styles of the day. Source.
Who invented the roll top desk?
One of the first U.S. patents for a roll top desk was given to Abner Cutler in 1881. Mr. Cutler was the owner of A. Cutler and Son located in Buffalo, New York. What set Cutler's design apart from the desks that had previously been produced was the flexible tambour that covered the desktop and important papers while the desk was not being used.
What is a Carlton desk?
The Carlton House desk contained all of the nooks, crannies, drawers, and mysterious places that Cu tler later added to his own desk design. The rectangular writing area rested on legs, however, which gave the Carlton House Desk a more elegant, refined, and dainty look. Source.
What is pedestal desk?
The pedestal desk is created from a rectangular top which rests on two cabinets containing stacked drawers. It is the desk that people most often picture when they hear the word "desk." The pedestal desk often had a front panel, called a modesty panel, which covered the front of the desk from pedestal to pedestal. This allowed the user's legs to be covered while seated at the desk. Some pedestal desks had leather insets, fancy wood inlays, gold leafed designs, and other decorations to make the desk more beautiful.
Why was the cylinder desk made?
The cylinder desk had a wooden cylinder that slid down over the work surface of the desk. Because it was a solid piece , it was difficult to create. It could warp, rendering the cylinder totally useless. This was created for the French nobles early in the 1700s.
Who designed the Carlton House desk?
The Carlton House Desk. The Carlton House Desk was designed in the 1700s by Hepplewhite for the Prince of Wales, later to be King George IV. The name comes from the Carlton House, the London residence of the Prince.
Why did tambour desks not warp?
The tambour desk had slats like the roll top, so it didn't warp. The slats were pulled across the desk top rather than downward from the top. They were straight slats of wood that ran vertically rather than horizontally. Because it pulled shut across, rather than down, it covered only the back.
What does a dovetail on a desk drawer mean?
Look closely at how drawers on your desk are assembled. Like wooden pegs instead of screws, hand-cut dovetail joints on the sides of drawers indicate older , prefactory assembly methods. Hand-cut dovetails were often used before the 1860s, when factory-cut methods became widely available and economical.
What is a C curved top?
Eighteenth-century desks often featured a pull-down C-curved top fashioned from a single piece of wood. This curved top formed the basis for the slatted C-curved tambour of the early 19th century and eventually the S-cur ve of mid- to late 19th- and 20th-century desks .
How to tell if a desk is factory built?
Especially if your desk, like many sold in the "Sears, Roebuck & Co." or "Montgomery Ward" catalogs from the 1880s to the end of the 1920s, was factory-built, you may recognize it by its measurements as much as by its design. Perfectly symmetrical measurements are a clue that your desk was factory- rather than hand-made.
Why do desks need to be stained?
Like other kinds of furniture, desks were sometimes stained to fit into a decor scheme or to make plain wood appear more elegant. A master carpenter or other woodworking expert can help you distinguish between stain and grain.
What kind of wood is a roll top desk made of?
Identify what kind of wood your desk is made from. Early roll-tops were built of heavy woods such as black walnut, and small local companies might choose from a variety of local hardwoods. Most popular toward the end of the 19th century, close-grained oak was often quarter-sawn, or cut to promote a particularly even grain, ...
How long does it take to date an antique desk?
Depending on information provided by the piece itself, you may be able to come within a few years of dating it or may have to settle for a span of 50 years or longer. A wide variety of resources can help you come close to dating an antique roll-top desk.
Who is Janet Beal?
Her work has appeared on early childhood education and consumer education websites. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Harvard University and a Master of Science in early childhood education from the College of New Rochelle.
