A partners desk is an antique desk form which is basically two pedestal desks constructed from the start as one large desk joined at the front, for two users working while facing each other. The spelling of the term is irregular, with partner's desk and partners' desk being common variants.
This piece of furniture was first conceived in the United Kingdom to accommodate the work of banking partners. These gentlemen were usually senior bank officials who wished to do teamwork while keeping the convenience and the prestige of a pedestal desk. It was an adaptation of the earlier and sometimes larger library desk, found in the libraries of the mansions of the gentry and the nobility.
Most partners desks made in the 19th century were built of high quality woods such as oak, mahogany or walnut and finished with tooled leather inserts on top and brass fittings all around. Many reproductions have been made in the 20th century.
This type of desk is also known as a double desk.
Famous quotes containing the words partners and/or desk:
“It is ultimately in employers’ best interests to have their employees’ families functioning smoothly. In the long run, children who misbehave because they are inadequately supervised or marital partners who disapprove of their spouse’s work situation are productivity problems. Just as work affects parents and children, parents and children affect the workplace by influencing the employed parents’ morale, absenteeism, and productivity.”
—Ann C. Crouter (20th century)
“Write about winter in the summer. Describe Norway as Ibsen did, from a desk in Italy; describe Dublin as James Joyce did, from a desk in Paris. Willa Cather wrote her prairie novels in New York City; Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn in Hartford, Connecticut. Recently, scholars learned that Walt Whitman rarely left his room.”
—Annie Dillard (b. 1945)