As the colonists gradually settled into more permanent homes, their furnishings took on increasingly substantial forms.

Typical this evolution was the addition of legs to the slant-top boxes to form the desk-on-frame. Perhaps the best known example of this form is the SCHOOLMASTER'S DESK developed later in the 19th century.

An even larger form known as the BUREAU DESK, developed during the William and Mary period. It combines the slanted top box with a lower chest of drawers.

During the Chippendale period the KNEEHOLE DESWK developed. This innovative form, which made it easier to sit close to the desk, was especially popular in the Victorian period. Most Victorian examples have a flat top resting on 2 pedestals that contain drawers and storage areas.

A variation of the kneehole desk that is much sought after today is the ROLL TOP DESK, which developed from tambour models of the Federal period.

In the 20th century the desks differ more in the use of new materials than in design innovations. They are sometimes lacquered and incorporate a host of modern materials, including tubular steel and glass. Yet most modern forms are in fact adaptations of late 19th century designs. For the most part 20th century desks are smaller and less complicated than those from the 19th century, reflecting a society in which the telephone, typewriter and computer have made writing and file-keeping a less arduous task.

Most of the desks available to the collector today are either handcrafted high-style pieces or factory made examples from the 19th and 20th century; the few that were made by rural carpenters are chiefly variations of the DESK-ON-FRAME. (the Knopf Collector's Guide to American Antiques, by William C. Ketchum, Jr.)