Antique and Unique is a family run business based in the Derbyshire Peak District. We love antiques, and buy and sell items that we personally like, whether it be a 17th century bible box, an Arts and Crafts table or a piece of Chinese blue and white porcelain.
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Address
Unit 2, Tideswell Business Park
Tideswell
Derbyshire
United Kingdom
SK17 8PY
Opening times
Monday to Friday 10am - 5pm (it is best to call first). Saturdays by appointment.
Mobile
+447813 369871
LoveAntiques Dealersince Oct 2021381 sales by dealerFree DeliveryAvailable for local pick-up
A late 19th century ladies writing desk in Rosewood with satinwood inlay, made by Edwards and Roberts of Wardour Street, London. The desk is of small and elegant proportions in the Bonheur du Jour style, with cupboards and mirror backed shelves on the top section, with a shaped pediment and turned wooden finials, with a fold out leather writing surface over three drawers.
An elegant little desk that is in completely original condition, other than replacement handles. The inside edge of the central drawer is stamped ‘Edwards and Roberts’ and there is an ivorine brand label inside the same drawer. We believe this desk to date from around 1890.
Edwards and Roberts were regarded as one of the finest English cabinet makers of the second half of the nineteenth century. Founded in 1845 trading as ‘Edwards and Roberts’ from 21 Wardour Street as ‘Antique and Modern Cabinet Makers and Importers of Ancient Furniture’. The company became one of the leading London cabinet makers and retailers producing high quality furniture, and good copies of 18th and 19th century English and French furniture, and expanded into several premises across the West End. Their workmanship was of the highest quality. Their furniture was made with the best quality timbers, with finely figured mahogany, rosewood, burr walnut and satinwood.
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measurements
Height:
1185 mm
Width:
840 mm
Depth:
455 mm
measurements
declaration
Antique and Unique has clarified that the Edwards and Roberts Rosewood Ladies Desk (LA534050) is genuinely of the period declared with the date/period of manufacture being c1890
declaration
condition
condition
Structurally the desk is good and solid. It has had a few little repairs to the veneer over the years which I have tried to show in the photos - the most obvious of these is on the top, but there is also a repair to one drawer front. A few small sections of veneer and inlay are missing. The leather writing surface on the inside is worn, but attractively so. We have found a key that fits the tiny locks on the doors to help pull them open, but it doesn’t actually turn. The mirrored back to the shelf area is a little foxed and worn. The handles have been replaced and in places you can see where the original handles were fixed. General surface wear and patina in accordance with age and use.