Mechanical desk

Mechanical desk

A mechanical desk is usually an antique desk type which was produced during the 18th or the 19th century. At one extreme there are desks furnished with a multitude of panels that swing out while stacks of small drawers pop up when a user lowers or extracts the main writing surface or desktop from a closed position, thanks to some well placed levers and/or gears. At the other extreme are mechanically simple desks like the Wooton desk whose two panels open up separately by hand and whose desktop is also opened in a separate manual operation, without exploiting any gears or levers. The term is used quite loosely.

There was an explosion of mechanical desk designs in the second part of the 18th century. This came at the same time as a renewed interest in smaller domestic furniture in the homes of the rich, and the general introduction in their homes of all kinds of new mechanical devices such as small clocks and wood turning tools. These devices are described in the Encyclopédie of 1772. The devices and the interest in them were a result of the technological ferment which arose in the United Kingdom during its Industrial revolution, and gradually spread to Europe.

The mechanical desk fad gradually died at the beginning of the 19th century. By the middle of the 19th century desk mechanisms were mostly simple affairs meant to extract or retract sliders or supports from a secretary desk, to give but one example.

See also


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • desk — /desk/, n. 1. an article of furniture having a broad, usually level, writing surface, as well as drawers or compartments for papers, writing materials, etc. 2. a frame for supporting a book from which the service is read in a church. 3. a pulpit …   Universalium

  • Mechanical equilibrium — A pendulum in a stable equilibrium (left) and unstable equilibrium (right) A standard definition of static equilibrium is: A system of particles is in static equilibrium when all the particles of the system are at rest and the total force on each …   Wikipedia

  • List of desk forms and types — Any list of desk forms and types encountered in the modern office or home, and in antique stores, is incomplete and contradictory given the variations in the naming of desks, as a simple lookup in two or three of the reference books below will… …   Wikipedia

  • Secretary desk — A secretary desk is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass. The whole is usually a single, tall and heavy piece …   Wikipedia

  • Computer desk — Computer desks in a Control room Computer desk …   Wikipedia

  • Fan (mechanical) — A mechanical fan is an electrically powered device used to produce an airflow for the purpose of creature comfort (particularly in the heat), ventilation, exhaust, or any other gaseous transport.Mechanically, a fan can be any revolving vane or… …   Wikipedia

  • Drawing board — A 19th century architect at the drawing board A drawing board (also drawing table, drafting table or architect s table) is, in its antique form, a kind of multipurpose desk which can be used for any kind of drawing, writing or impromptu sketching …   Wikipedia

  • Metamorphic library steps — are a type of archaic dual use furniture, consisting of a small folding staircase that can be transformed into chair or desk form (such as a small writing table or library table). In desk form, it can also be considered a mechanical desk.… …   Wikipedia

  • Writing table — A writing table (French bureau plat ) has a series of drawers directly under the surface of the table, to contain writing implements, so that it may serve as a desk. Antique versions have the usual divisions for the inkpot, the blotter and the… …   Wikipedia

  • Kathleen Antonelli — Kathleen Kay McNulty Mauchly Antonelli (February 12 1921 ndash; April 20 2006) was one of the six original programmers of the ENIAC, the first general purpose electronic digital computer.Early life and educationShe was born Kathleen Rita McNulty… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”