The desk on a frame is usually an antique form made up of two pieces of furniture. The first piece is a fairly large and closable portable desk

Portable desk

The portable desk has not one but many forms. In a sense, the portable desk is a long-lost ancestor of the portable computer, and the modern laptop could be considered an atavistic grandchild of the 19th-century Lap desk....

 with a slanted hinged top giving access to the writing surface and utility nooks and small drawers. The second piece is a stand made for it in the same style and material. It is also sometimes a single piece of furniture which looks as if it were made up of the two previous pieces but is in fact solid and undetachable. This form was popular in Colonial America

Colonial America

The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...

 and was often done in the Queen Anne style.

The slant top desk

Slant top desk

The slant top desk can be considered in some ways as the ancestor or the little brother, of the secretary desk for it is for all practical purposes a secretary desk without the massive bookcase on top of it...

 is a direct morphological descendant. In a sense the Spanish Bargueno

Bargueno desk

The Bargueño is a desk first produced in the 15th century that continues to be produced to this day. The only other style of desk which is known to have been continuously produced for so long is the trestle desk, but some authorities exclude this desk from consideration because in early times it...

 (or Vargueno) desk is a distant cousin of the two piece version, since the Bargueno is also made up of a portable desk and a stand constructed specially for it, using the same materials and style.

See also the list of desk forms and types.