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Midcentury Lucite and Chrome Telephone by TeleConcepts Inc., 1977
Located in North Hollywood, CA
Create the ultimate statement with this wonderful Mod phone! The body of the telephone is a chrome
Category

Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories

c. 1966, Grillo Rotary Telephone by Marco Zanuso Richard Sapper for Siemens
By Siemens, Richard Sapper, Marco Zanuso
Located in New York, NY
Condition: 08/10. This design is in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art [MoMA].
Category

Vintage 1960s Italian More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Small Italian Writing Desk, 1950s
Located in s Heer Arendskerke, NL
use as a telephone or computer desk or even as small study desk. The small size makes it fit
Category

20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks

Materials

Brass, Metal

1960s Danish Teak Telephone Stand Laptop Desk with Roll-Top
Located in Richmond, VA
Offered is a stunning, 1960s modern Danish teak telephone stand with roll-top. Perfect as a small
Category

20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Teak

Directors Desk with Integrate Telephone by Ernest Igl, Germany 1970
By Wilhelm Werndl, Ernest Igl
Located in Frankfurt / Dreieich, DE
Very rare Directors Desk by Ernest Igl for Wilhelm Werndl, ca. 1970 with integrate Telephone and
Category

Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Vintage Western Electric Executive Telephone
By Western Electric
Located in Baltimore, MD
Concealed in a handsome walnut case, this Western Electric telephone has a retractable cord and
Category

20th Century American Desk Accessories

Materials

Aluminum

Mint original streamline bakelite telephone
Located in Dallas, TX
Pristine functional example. Ivorene bakelite, or the equivalent. This is a rare example from New Zealand's period deco design years. Working, but please note, these phones have...
Category

20th Century New Zealand Art Deco Desk Accessories

1960s Mining Explosion Proof Telephone
Located in Warsaw, PL
Primary use: Mining explosion-proof telephone is one of the first Polish models of special-purpose
Category

Vintage 1960s Polish Industrial More Desk Accessories

Materials

Iron

Vintage Brown Sculptura Donut Telephone
By Western Electric
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A 1970s brown Western Electric Sculptura rotary telephone with original brown cord. And it’s shaped
Category

Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Ettore Sottsass Enorme Postmodern Telephone 1986 Memphis
By Ettore Sottsass
Located in San Diego, CA
Ettore Sottsass Enorme telephone from 1986. Includes the original instructions and box. The phone
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Mid-Century French Art Nouveau Style Brass Telephone
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Vintage Illinois Bell Telephone French style cameo rotary reposse telephone. Features a gilt
Category

Mid-20th Century Japanese Art Nouveau More Desk Accessories

Materials

Brass

Highly Decorated Working Chinese Telephone on Platform Base
Located in North Hollywood, CA
This certainly has to rank as one of the more outrageous telephones we have ever encountered! The
Category

Vintage 1960s Chinese Chinoiserie More Desk Accessories

Beocom 1401 Telephone from 1990s by Bang Olusfen
By Bang Olufsen
Located in Vordingborg, DK
Beocom 1401 Telephone from 1990s by Bang & Olusfen. BeoCom 1401 with table holder is an easy-to
Category

1990s Danish Scandinavian Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Iconic Beocom 1000 Telephone from 1986 by Bang Olusfen
By Bang Olufsen
Located in Vordingborg, DK
Beocom 1000 telephone from 1986 by Bang & Olusfen. Fully functional. History: "In 1983 the
Category

Vintage 1980s Danish Scandinavian Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Telephone in Black Bakelite, circa 1950 from Italy, Working
Located in Genova, Liguria
Telephone in black bakelite, circa 1950, Italian. Brand "Face", type "Standard". Much in use and
Category

Vintage 1950s Italian More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic, Bakelite

Italian Telephone "cobra" designed by Pasqui e Pasini Associati, 1980s
By Gianni Pasini
Located in Porto, PT
Rare vintage 80's Italian design telephone, designed by Pasqui e Pasini Associati, Milano. "Lovely
Category

Vintage 1980s Italian Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Plastic

Mid-Century Modern / Postmodern French Loys Clear Lucite with Red Neon Telephone
By Loys
Located in Houston, TX
Offered is a Mid-Century Modern /Postmodern French Loys Lucite neon see through telephone. How much
Category

Vintage 1980s French Post-Modern More Desk Accessories

Materials

Brass, Copper

1960s Danish Teak Secretary Desk by Arne Vodder/Sibast for Maurice Villency
By Arne Vodder, Maurice Villency
Located in Brooklyn, NY
bottom right inside desk for telephone wire. Measures: 38" wide x 17" deep x 45" tall. 28" deep when
Category

Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Teak

1920s Edwardian Louis XVI Style Brussel Writing Desk Marble Top
Located in San Francisco, CA
Early 20th century European desk in elegant satinwood. Fine marquetry on all seven drawer fronts
Category

Early 20th Century Belgian Louis XVI Desks

Materials

Marble, Brass

Art Deco Machine Age Wolfgang Hoffmann for Howell Rare Console Table
By Howell Mfg., Wolfgang Hoffmann
Located in Dallas, TX
attached mirror. Design with inset space for chair / stool functional as a laptop/tablet/telephone/writing
Category

Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Console Tables

Materials

Steel, Chrome

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Telephone Desk For Sale on 1stDibs

Find many varieties of an authentic telephone desk available at 1stDibs. Frequently made of plastic, bakelite and metal, every telephone desk was constructed with great care. Your living room may not be complete without a telephone desk — find older editions for sale from the 20th Century and newer versions made as recently as the 20th Century. A telephone desk is a generally popular piece of furniture, but those created in Mid-Century Modern, Art Deco and Scandinavian Modern styles are sought with frequency. Many designers have produced at least one well-made telephone desk over the years, but those crafted by GPO ( General Post Office ), Bang Olufsen and Ettore Sottsass are often thought to be among the most beautiful.

How Much is a Telephone Desk?

Prices for a telephone desk can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — at 1stDibs, they begin at $128 and can go as high as $12,500, while the average can fetch as much as $695.

Finding the Right Desk-accessories for You

Whether you’ve carved out a space for a nifty home office or you prefer the morning commute, why not dress up your desk with antique and vintage desk accessories? To best tiptoe the line between desk efficiency and desk enjoyment, we suggest adding a touch of the past to your modern-day space.

Desks are a funny thing. Their basic premise has remained the same for quite literally centuries: a flat surface, oftentimes a drawer, and potentially a shelf or two. However, the contents that lay upon the desk? Well, the evolution has been drastic to say the least.

Thank the Victorians for the initial popularity of the paperweight. The Industrial Revolution offered the novel concept of leisure-time to Europeans, giving them more time to take part in the then crucial activity of letter writing. Decorative glass paperweight designs were all the rage, and during the mid-19th-century some of the most popular makers included the French companies of Baccarat, St. Louis and Clichy.

As paper was exceedingly expensive in the early to mid-19th-century, every effort was made to utilize a full sheet of it. Paper knives, which gave way to the modern letter opener, were helpful for cutting paper down to an appropriate size.

Books — those bound volumes of paper, you may recall — used to be common occurrences on desks of yore and where there were books there needed to be bookends. As a luxury item, bookend designs have run the gamut from incorporating ultra-luxurious materials (think marble and Murano glass) to being whimsical desk accompaniments (animal figurines were highly popular choices).

Though the inkwell’s extinction was ushered in by the advent of the ballpoint pen (itself quasi-obsolete at this point), there is still significant charm to be had from placing one of these bauble-like objets in a central spot on one’s desk. You may be surprised to discover the mood-boosting powers an antique — and purposefully empty — inkwell can provide.

The clamor for desk clocks arose as the Industrial Revolution transitioned labor from outdoors to indoors, and allowed for the mass-production of clock parts in factories. Naturally, elaborate designs soon followed and clocks could be found made by artisans and luxury houses like Cartier.

Find antique and vintage desk accessories today on 1stDibs.