Writing Bureaus - Still Useful Furniture

In the eighteenth and nineteenth century no lady's boudoir would have been complete without her writing bureau. It was always a more attractive item of furniture than an ordinary desk, as they were usually carved from oak, although as time went by, mahogany wood was increasingly used. They have a letdown flap, usually with a green baize cover on the inside, and when down this functioned as the writing desk. They also usually had some small shelves and pigeon holes at the back of the let down desk part, and these were useful for storing received and outgoing mail as well as notepaper, envelopes and eventually stamps.

The lower part of most bureaus either opened as a cupboard, or it consisted of a couple of drawers. The bottom part was used for general storage as stationary and writing instruments were kept at the top. Some of the early designs of writing desks were very beautiful pieces of furniture with cabriole legs and very often a design etched on the front. Oak writing bureaus were prevalent and eventually pine and mahogany bureaus also became available. This form of writing desk was considered a useful piece of furniture in most upper and middle class homes during the early part of the twentieth century. As a general rule they had migrated to the living or drawing room, although some women and men still preferred to have it as part of their bedroom furniture.

They were generally made of solid wood such as oak or pine, and by the twentieth century most writing bureau desks were French polished. They remained quite popular until the advent of the computer when they were much less evident in people's homes and those that were available were often made from MDF or other engineered woods. The writing desk seems to go in and out of fashion and mahogany wood desks are less popular than they once were. In modern homes people tend to have pine writing bureaus as those that were not made from solid wood tended not to last for very long.

In spite of the fact that they went out of fashion for some years, they are still a useful piece of furniture, especially for someone who still writes and receives letters on a regular basis. Modern forms of this desk are again made from solid wood and people are once again proud to own a solid oak or pine writing bureau.

For more information and to see a selection of writing bureau retailers see the site dedicated to writing bureaus with pictures, information and sizing.

Source : ezinearticles