Portable Desk
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The portable
desk A desk or bureau is a piece of furniture with a flat table (furniture), table-style work surface used in a school, office, home or the like for academic, professional or domestic activities such as reading (activity), reading, writing, or using ...
had many forms and is an ancestor of the
portable computer A portable computer is a computer designed to be easily moved from one place to another, as opposed to those designed to remain stationary at a single location such as desktops and workstations. These computers usually include a display a ...
, the modern
laptop A laptop computer or notebook computer, also known as a laptop or notebook, is a small, portable personal computer (PC). Laptops typically have a Clamshell design, clamshell form factor (design), form factor with a flat-panel computer scree ...
an atavistic grandchild of the 19th-century lap desk.


Medieval era and Renaissance

All desks were portable to some extent, from medieval times to the end of the Renaissance, with the exception of built-in tables and inclined ranks of desks found in places such as the scriptorium or library of a
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
. This was due to the itinerant nature of medieval kingship and the similar conditions that prevailed in lesser administrations under dukes or counts. There was rarely a single capital for a kingdom, and the monarch and his (or her) court would travel periodically between several seats of power during the year, taking precious goods and much of their furniture with them. A good example of this is Henry VIII's writing desk. The traditional French words for furniture – ''le mobilier'' and ''les meubles'' – reflect this. They describe those goods that are "mobile", in contrast to those that are not: ''les immeubles'', that is, buildings. The desks in medieval woodcuts and other illustrations of the period were massive affairs, but could be hauled by several men. Some were made of pieces that could be knocked down for transport. The trestle desk was a common form for the period. It was usually fitted with a slanted top. In the homes of lesser nobles and certain members of the
merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...
classes the portable furniture never travelled very far. Most domestic life took place in a single large hall. Furniture was constantly shifted around, stored and often disassembled to suit the role the great room was playing at a particular time in the day or the month.


Varguenos, bible boxes and other chests

There are two survivors of these medieval and renaissance forms: the rather large
Bargueño desk In cabinetry, the bargueño (or vargueño, both ; meaning "from Bargas") is a form of portable desk, made up of two chests, the bottom one usually having drawers (called a ''taquillón'') and the top one having a hinged desk surface which also ...
or Vargueno, a chest desk from 16th-century Spain, and the relatively small Bible box, which probably had a later origin. These two forms are usually not employed as portable desks any more, but they are bought and sold as antiques or as reproductions and usually valued as much for their monetary worth or their aesthetic appeal as for their practical use. The lap desk appeared sometime in the 17th century and became a stylish accessory for travelling gentlemen. Like the Bible box, the lap desk was usually small enough to be carried on a horse or by a gentleman's butler or valet. From the 18th century onward, however, it grew in size and became too heavy to be used comfortably on a lap. Several regional variations, such as the French
escritoire A secretary desk or escritoire 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 ...
, were developed. At the other end of the scale, the 17th century saw the appearance of several other kinds of "chest" desks, such as those destined for use in ships or for getting paperwork done during a military campaign. These were usually known as the campaign desk and the field desk.


Decline

Most portable desks gradually disappeared during the 19th century, as useful day-to-day writing tools. The introduction of mass literacy during that period, the invention of cheaper and more efficient writing implements, and the mass production of furniture made most portable desks redundant. With the advent of clean writing surfaces in every home or place of business and of the small and clean pocket
fountain pen A fountain pen is a writing instrument that uses a metal nib (pen), nib to apply Fountain pen ink, water-based ink, or special pigment ink—suitable for fountain pens—to paper. It is distinguished from earlier dip pens by using an internal r ...
and the
pencil A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion, leaving a trail of ...
, a gentleman did not need to include a lap desk in his luggage. There was no need for a container for the
quill A quill is a writing tool made from a moulted flight feather (preferably a primary wing-feather) of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen/metal-Nib (pen), nibbed pen, the fountain pen, and, event ...
, the blotter, and the sand tray or for the writing surface this container could offer. Ships eventually were constructed with built-in desks, making the portable desk obsolete in maritime environments. The only modern survivors of all the antique forms of the portable desk are the bed variants of the lap desk and a series of standardized forms (following
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
specifications or others) of the field desk.


See also

* Bible box, a portable desk specifically for holding a
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
*
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 * Bench desk * Bible box * Bonheur du jour * Bureau à gradin * Bureau brisé * Bureau capucin * Bureau Mazarin *''Bureau plat'', see W ...


References

{{Reflist Desks Space-saving furniture