Moore desk
Encyclopedia
A Moore Desk is not one but two large antique desk
forms.
The "Moore Office Queen" is a massive desk, made for a sitting user. From the outside it looks, when closed, much like its competitor, the Wooton desk
but it differs from it in several ways. For one, it has but a single large door to lock up the main work surface and the drawers and nooks around it, while the Wooton has two. More importantly (the manufacturer liked to boast about it) the main work surface slides in and out of the main body of the desk so that work can be stopped and the desk closed without having to put away everything, as is the case for the Wooton desk.
The "Moore Office Queen" was patented in 1878 in Indiana in the United States
by the Moore Combination Desk Company.
The Office Queen has a modern descendant called the Armoire desk
.
The "Moore Insurance Desk" is nearly twice as big as the "Office Queen" and combines a Standing desk
and a normal "sitting" desk in a single piece of furniture. It was patented in 1882. Like the "Office Queen" it opens up by means of a single large door, and its internal work surface slides in and out. But it also has an external work surface to accommodate a standing user, on the other side of the desk. The standing user employs the "roof" of the desk of the sitting user as his (or her) work surface.
Moore combination desks were produced in standard, extra, and superior grades. Standard grade combination desks were $110 to $185. Extra grade desks were 40% to 50% more expensive. Superior were more expensive.
In her Smithsonian monography on the Wooton desk, Betty Lawson Walters notes the relative importance of the Moore desk as a competitor to the famous Wooton desk, and traces its origin and destiny.
Desk
A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...
forms.
The "Moore Office Queen" is a massive desk, made for a sitting user. From the outside it looks, when closed, much like its competitor, the Wooton desk
Wooton desk
The Wooton desk is a variation of the Fall front desk. It is the embodiment of the phenomenon of conspicuous consumption which swept over moneyed society in the United States at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, and was described by Thorstein Veblen in his book The...
but it differs from it in several ways. For one, it has but a single large door to lock up the main work surface and the drawers and nooks around it, while the Wooton has two. More importantly (the manufacturer liked to boast about it) the main work surface slides in and out of the main body of the desk so that work can be stopped and the desk closed without having to put away everything, as is the case for the Wooton desk.
The "Moore Office Queen" was patented in 1878 in Indiana in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by the Moore Combination Desk Company.
The Office Queen has a modern descendant called the Armoire desk
Armoire desk
An armoire desk is a writing-table built within a large cabinet, usually 1.5-2.0 m high. The cabinet is closed by two to four full-height doors, to keep out dust or to give a tidy appearance to a room by hiding the cluttered working surface of the desk...
.
The "Moore Insurance Desk" is nearly twice as big as the "Office Queen" and combines a Standing desk
Standing desk
A standing desk is both an antique desk and a modern desk form conceived for writing and/or reading while standing up or while sitting on a high stool. The term stand-up or stand up desk is also used...
and a normal "sitting" desk in a single piece of furniture. It was patented in 1882. Like the "Office Queen" it opens up by means of a single large door, and its internal work surface slides in and out. But it also has an external work surface to accommodate a standing user, on the other side of the desk. The standing user employs the "roof" of the desk of the sitting user as his (or her) work surface.
Moore combination desks were produced in standard, extra, and superior grades. Standard grade combination desks were $110 to $185. Extra grade desks were 40% to 50% more expensive. Superior were more expensive.
In her Smithsonian monography on the Wooton desk, Betty Lawson Walters notes the relative importance of the Moore desk as a competitor to the famous Wooton desk, and traces its origin and destiny.