By Valentina
The protagonists of today’s Classic Monday are two exceptional desks of Lombard production, refined and elegant works.
Great refinement can be found in fact in the turning and carving that decorates the columns, not perfectly identical in the two pieces of furniture. If in one desk the tapering is twisted, moving the surface, in the other it is vertical, with a more archaic flavor. Great quality is also found in the construction of the wooden structure, certainly worthy of a stipettaio. The tables are supported and fixed to each other with dovetail joints that hold the structure of the desks firmly. Great refinement has also been dedicated to the realization of the locks. The central one of the drawers placed under the top and in the backsplash band has a mechanism that allows you to block even the side ones.
Coming from a private library, their function was that of desks from the center.
Used for consulting volumes but also to store documents and papers in drawers and compartments obtained in the backsplash, in which books can be conveniently stored, to make it easier to consult on the work surface, on which there is an insert of richly worked green leather.
Always cultural activities par excellence, reading and study necessarily led to the creation of furnishings that lent themselves to their development.
Different types of furniture were born, designed specifically for this function and also designed according to the place of destination, such as small rooms such as bedrooms, or larger rooms, used as real studies, also prepared to accommodate guests.
It is not unusual to find small chamber desks in bourgeois homes. This type actually presents a great heterogeneity of furniture that undoubtedly was affected by the fashion of the moment. In fact, they could be small tables with drawers placed in the band under the top, to store documents. The shape of the folding desk was also widespread, certainly less bulky and more suitable for the small size of bourgeois houses, it could be opened if necessary.
Certainly the furniture for private studios and libraries, often used as representative places to welcome their guests, could vary, especially in size.
In fact, larger desks are used, suitable for consulting books or papers. Even the presence of several drawers becomes functional to a work use, in order to house the documents. The desks can be from the center, as in the case of our protagonists, or from the wall, leaning against the wall and therefore finished only on the front and sides. In libraries there are also other types of tables: large bureaus. Derivation of the desks from the center, they had to be finished on all sides, allowing working on larger planes, on which it was possible to open and compare a large number of volumes and papers, such as archival documents.
As already mentioned, this type of furniture actually diversifies and is characterized by different styles, linked to fashion and the prevailing taste at the time of their production.
Certainly the furniture similar to our desks had wide diffusion in the 800, a century in which the spread of culture and the need to make even the private collections accessible to external scholars, makes it necessary to adapt the furnishings.
