Governor Winthrop desk

Meanings

1. A bureau; a piece of writing furniture with a lid that closes at an angle and opens up as a writing surface.

Etymology

Named after John Winthrop, 17th-century governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Winthrop died in 1647, before this kind of desk was invented (in the 18th century), but his name was attached to these desks by the Winthrop Furniture Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, who offered their "Gov. Winthrop" desk in 1924, during the colonial revival period.