This design for a desk and bookcase is the original design for plate no.111 in the 1762 edition of Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director. In this design, Chippendale has provided the dimensions for the construction of the item of furniture. In the plate description, Chippendale instructs that ‘The large Mouldings at the bottom of the upper Part may be two drawers’. The design for the inside of the desk is also provided. This plate was engraved by Matthias Darly (b.ca.1720 –d.1781), who engraved many of the designs for the Director and his name can be seen on this original design.

Thomas Chippendale was a fashionable designer and cabinet-maker in the eighteenth-century, providing furniture to such famous contemporary figures as David Garrick. His company produced high-quality furniture, including some key masterpieces, but Chippendale's outstanding skill was in design. His pattern-book The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director went through three editions in the 1750s and 60s and inspired trade catalogues and pattern-books from fellow designers. Usually produced by architects, a large, elegant pattern-book was an ambitious project for a craftsman at this time. The Director showed the full range of furniture available in the eighteenth century, and the range of styles that were fashionable. Chippendale created a trademark fusion of rococo style with Chinese and gothic elements, which was the basis of 'English' rococo. His style influenced furniture design in contemporary Europe and colonial America, and had a marked Victorian revival in England. The Director designs were the main source for Chippendale's high reputation until his furniture was first identified in 1906.