What is a Roll Top Desk?
A roll top desk is a desk that usually has a built-in set of drawers, cubbies and shelves on top of the writing surface which is covered and locked away by its defining characteristic-a tambour. A tambour is a rounded sliding door made of thin slats of wood that are attached to a piece of cloth or leather. The structure of the tambour is flexible and can be rolled up into its hiding place via an s-shaped track. The roll top desk is a variant of the cylinder desk. Created in France in the 1760s, the cylinder desk also had cabinets rising vertically from the surface of the desk but was covered by a large, inflexible carved wooden cylinder that slid into place on a fitted c-shaped track. The cylinder desk was quite popular in France throughout the 18th century, but was plagued with several design flaws that created difficulties both for the builder and user. For one, the wooden cylinder that covered the desk had to be precisely fitted in order to slide into place; in order to avoid warpin
