Jefferson Stand Up Writing Desk

DonStephan | Posted in General Discussion on May 6, 2010 08:35am

Fellow stopped in this morning looking to order a Thomas Jefferson stand-up writing desk. He said Jefferson published plans for his writing desk that has a horizontal surface but taller than normal legs so that he could stand up and use the desk as a writing surface. A search on Google this evening on Jefferson writing desk only found references to the lap desk that was featured in a FWW article. At www.monticello.org I found a writing stand with a slanted top, but not a flat one. Searched on Google for “Jefferson furniture designs” but no luck. “Jefferson stand up desk” found one good return, FWW review of Jan 2010 Williamsburg VA conference. Does anyone know where I might find Jefferson’s design/plans for this desk? Thanks.

Replies

SteveSchoene | May 07, 2010 08:14am | #1
I'd stronglyu suggest http://www.sapfm.org which is the site for the Society of Period Furniture Makers. A lot of very knowledgeable people about such things. They are, along with FWW, participants at the Williamsburg conferences and have a forum where you could ask the question.

DonStephan | May 08, 2010 08:49pm | #4
SAPFM Forum

Searched their forum using "Jefferson desk" and found only one reference, that to his lap desk. It was a great suggestion tho. Thanks.

Jrussi | May 07, 2010 01:38pm | #2
Is this it?

http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Tall_Desk

SteveSchoene | May 07, 2010 09:20pm | #3
Wow, that looks great.

Yet again Jefferson shows his genius. Boy if it were my prospective commission I'd be thrilled to be making that desk, even if it isn't quite as timeless a design as "We hold these truths to be self-evident . . . . "

remichal | May 02, 2011 07:07pm | #5
Jefferson Writing Desk

I was at Monticello last week and took several photos of that desk. They wouldn't let me use a flash so I had to rely on timed exposures so they're slightly blurred but good enough to make out details. The desk is constructed with through tenons and pegs. The original is mahogany and the only decoration is on the legs but it would be an easy project to recreate. I will try to attach a couple of the images to this response.

DonStephan | May 02, 2011 08:09pm | #6
Thanks for sharing the pictures. I hope someday drawings will be available as it's a very interesting design, but I think more complex than one might think.

salamfam | May 03, 2011 07:15am | #7
Writing Desk

Don,

If I were you I would not shy away from such a commission simply because there are no plans available. I live a long way from museums and Monticello, and I doubt that I would be allowed access to such important originals but given a few decent photographs and descriptions I think that I (you) could come up with a reasonably close reproduction of such a piece. If your client is insistent upon an exact reproduction, then I assume that he has the influence and finances to get you access to the original. If not, then do the best you can based on what you know and enjoy the opportunity.

WaylonWillie | May 18, 2011 10:22pm | #8
In the video linked here, Donald Rumsfeld (a standing desk user) says that Jefferson's standing desk is in the state department.

http://www.hunter-gatherer.com/blog/upstanding-citizen-4-donald-rumsfeld
jpwglw | Jun 22, 2011 09:20pm | #9
Could you write for a set of plans?

Could you write to the museum for a set of plans? I know that Mystic Seaport, for example, has plans for many of the ships that they display. It probably would cost you (or your client) but still.

Janet
Copkutusu | Mar 08, 2015 02:20pm | #10
The original desk is at the State Department building in DC. Unfortunately, it's not a publicly accessible building/area, so there aren't a lot of pictures floating around of it on the Internet. But I was there, so here's my pic. As you can see, one could control both the height and the pitch of the writing surface.