To many people, the Regency period stands out as the pinnacle of English design. At a time when comfort and luxury were equally revered, interiors were lavishly equipped with costly furniture and objets d'art. Although historically "Regency" refers to the period between 1811 and 1820 when the Prince Regent ruled England during the sickness of George III, the term more commonly refers to the English late neoclassical style from the end of the 18th century until the early Victorian 1840s.

In 1783, the Prince of Wales petitioned for his own London residence and was given Carlton House, the former dwelling of his deceased grandmother Augusta, the dowager Princess of Wales. Its refurbishment, a collaboration with the architect Henry Holland and a team of Anglo-French craftsmen, was the first important project in which the Prince could give free reign to his love for interior design.

The Prince was heavily influenced by the latest Paris fashions and purchased many objects in France for his new house. In addition, Holland and others designed furniture specifically for each room. The results, which were more closely allied to the nascent French Empire style than the profuse ornamentation of Adam or the attenuated proportions of Hepplewhite, were admired and copied by the bon ton of the day. Horace Walpole wrote the Countess of Upper Ossory, "We went to see the Prince's new palace in Pall Mall and were charmed. It will be the most perfect in Europe. There is an august simplicity that astonished me. You cannot call it magnificent; it is the taste and propriety that strike."

The Prince's passion for la mode franscaise and the continental training of his cabinet-makers could have contributed to the creation of a table so firmly rooted in French design. The form of a flat writing table with a tiered superstructure could have been derived from the bureau a cylindre, made fashionable by Louis XV, and his bureau du Roi commissioned from the celebrated ebeniste JeanFrancois Oeben in 1756. This lighter and often smaller version of the secretaire provided privacy even in the center of a room and reflected the king's mistress Madame de Pompadour's love of comfort and intimacy.' It was often executed in expensive exotic timbers and adorned with ormolu mounts. The English straightlegged interpretation, as shown in Sheraton's drawing, benefited from the more rectilinear neo-classical style ushered in under Louis XVI (1774-1793).

The designer Thomas Sheraton visited Carlton House and recorded his impressions in his Drawing Book (1791-94), plate LX (figure 2). This is a sketch of the interior of the Prince Regent's dining room below a design for a Lady's Drawing and Writing table, or what is known today as the Carlton House desk. Sheraton's writing table may be based on an earlier design by Figure 2.

George Hepplewhite (figure 1), published in the second edition of The Cabinet-Maker's London Book of Prices (1793). According to Sheraton:
These tables are finished neat, either in mahoganyor satinwood, with a brass rim round the top part.The upper part is made separate from the underpart, and fixes on it by pins.

The rising desk in the middle may be made to slide forward, which will then serve to draw upon; and the small drawers below the coves at each end, will be found convenient for colours.

The drawer in the middle of the front serves to put the drawings in.  The top is lined with green leather or cloth.

Although there is no documented proof that the Prince Regent did indeed possess such a writing table, the Dictionary of English Furniture (Ralph Fastnedge, ed.) states that a rosewood example now in Buckingham Palace was originally at Carlton House in the Prince of Wales' bedroom.

The first documented reference to this design as the "Carlton House writing table" is found in the records of the Lancaster firm, Gillows, that made two versions in 1796 and 1798, the latter commissioned by the Earl of Derby.

Excellent examples of Carlton House writing tables are seen in figures 3 and 4. The former is exceptional in its diminutive scale and unstepped superstructure. Such details as satinwood crossbanding and boxwood line inlays, satinwood star inlaid panels, and the brass gallery pierced with anthemion motifs are evidence of superior workmanship.

Figure 4 is a more representative example, dating circa 1810. It is of mahogany with ebony line inlays throughout, with the rising surface in the center. In an unusual variation, the superstructure is surmounted by two double brass candlearms, making this piece functional both day and night. It is stamped "W. Priest, 1 & 2 Tudor Street, Blackfriars."

William Priest, a retail furniture dealer from 1837 to 1850, specialized in library or writing tables and office furnishings, including reading chairs and bookcases. He handled estate goods of the highest quality, and the furniture was stamped as noted above, before it was sold. The impressed stamp, seen in this piece in all three frieze drawers, has been recorded on numerous pieces of furniture dating from the period 1800-1850.'

The Carlton House writing table design proved so popular that it was still produced into the early 20th century. However, it would be a mistake to believe that there are many examples extant. Because of the simplicity of its design, its elegance is dependent on the use of luxury materials and highly skilled craftsmanship. Only those with ample means could afford to commission such an item, or would have the need for a table intended solely for writing and drawing---the leisurely pursuits of the privileged. Although the treasures of Carlton House have been dispersed and the house itself was razed in 1827, the Prince Regent maintains his reputation for sophisticated taste with the Carlton House desk.'

Frances Collard, Regenn' Furniture (London: Antique Collector's Club, 1985) p.31 Letter of September 17, 1785, W.S. Lewis, ed. The Yale Edition of Horace Wallop's Correspondance, vo1.33,pp.498-500,
' In fact, a bureau a cylindre which once belonged to Madame de pompadour, now in the Musec Nissim de Camondo in Paris, is thought to be a preliminarv model by Oeben in preparation for the Bureau du Rot. Pierre Verlet, French Furniture and Interior Decoration of the 18th Century, (London: Barnes and Rockliff, 1967) p. 159.
' lhontas Sheraton, The Cabinet-Makers and Upholsterers Drawing Book, (London: T. Bensley 1793), p.437. ` Lindsay Boynton, ed. Gallon' Furniture Designs 1760-1800, (London: Bloomfield Press, 1995), p 164. ° Christopher Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture: 1700-1840, (London: Furniture Historical Society, 1996), pp 45-46, Figure 4 is illustrated on p. 381, figure 747. -When the newly crowned George IV turned his attentions to the renovations of Buckingham Palace.