Antique Davenports.
Davenports
An entry made in the 1790s in the records of the cabinetmakers Gillow (est. c.1730) of Lancaster states: “Captain Davenport, a desk”. This is thought to be the first recorded example of the small writing cabinets now called by the Captain’s name. It is not known whether he ordered the desk for his own use, or as a gift for a lady.
For most of the 19th century the Davenport was generally used by women. The basic form, consisting of a small chest-of-drawers with a desk compartment on top, changed very little over the century or so during which most examples were produced. However, there were many minor variations. Most Davenports have four drawers that open at the side of the base sections, with simulated drawer fronts on the opposite sides. Just above the drawers there may be pull-out slides to hold papers or finished letters. Some examples depart from this pattern, with cupboards concealing drawers, but either way the arrangement is symmetrical, with dummy drawers or cupboard doors matching the real ones. Many Davenports are fitted with casters, allowing them to be moved about easily; because of their free-standing nature, they should be well veneered and finished to the same standard on all four sides.
The top section typically comprises a desk with a sloping lid inset with a leather writing surface, and a flat ledge behind it enclosed by a brass or wooden gallery.
One or two small drawers for storing writing implements and ink pull out sideways below. The finest examples have ingeniously concealed hinged drawers.
The first Davenport has a top section that slides forward to accommodate the writer’s legs and is anchored by a simple iron rod sliding into holes lined up in the top and bottom. As the Victorian period progressed (from c.1847), the desk section was more often fixed in the writing position, and supported on elaborately scrolled or turned supports or brackets, allowing a recessed space for more leg room, and emphasizing the width of the piece. However, the catalogue of the firm of William Smee & Sons (est. 1817) of Finsbury Pavement in London, which is undated but was probably produced c.1840, shows examples with both sliding- and fixed-desk sections.
While mahogany was the most popular wood for Davenports, some of the finest examples were made in rosewood,
particularly during the Regency period. These were often embellished with stringing lines of brass, a contrast carried further by the use of decorative brass drawer-handles, gilt-brass galleries at the back, and brass tappings on the feet.
Most Victorian Davenports had wooden galleries, and these could take the form of simple mouldings, turned spindles, or lacy fretwork. Turned wooden drawer knobs also replaced earlier brass handles, but some of the finest mid-19th-century Davenports had brass galleries and gilt-brass candle sconces on rotating arms fixed to the sides of the desks toward the back.
The popularity of the Davenport continued until the end of the l 9th century, but few of these late examples, often over-ornamented and of generally clumsy proportions, matched the quality of craftsmanship of those made up to the 1860s.
• CONSTRUCTION two main types: the plain Regency
box-type, which has a reading slope that slides.
forward, creating a comfortable knee aperture, and the type introduced c.1840, which has a rising superstructure and a recessed knee aperture
• WOODS the most common woods used were rosewood, mahogany, and burr-walnut.
• MECHANISM the rise on the mechanical Davenport runs on a leather belt and weights; it is released by a spring lock that opens to reveal pigeon holes and drawers.
• COLLECTING the Regency Davenport tends to be more popular than later Victorian examples; although collectable, Davenports are not as usable as bureaux; good-quality examples are well finished on all sides, and also on the inside.