Antique Venetian Rococo Bombe Secretary Desk, Hand Painted Floral Bureau
Located in BŘECLAV, CZ
An elegant antique Venetian bombe secretary desk crafted in the Rococo revival style, featuring a gracefully curved silhouette and richly decorated surfaces.
Bronze
Baroque Style Bombe Secretary Desk, Mid-20th Century
Located in BÉTERA, ES
Elegant baroque style bureau desk featuring a distinctive bombe front and a drop-front writing surface. The interior reveals a beautifully arranged set of compartments and drawers, ...
Hardwood
Antique Italian or Dutch Small Rococo Bombe Secretary Desk w/ Marquetry, c 1870
Located in INTERLAKEN, NY
An exquisite 19th century Rococo secretary in mahogany with bombe front & sides, with floral & foliate inlays in tulipwood, kingwood & satinwood on the top, front panels of the drawe...
Mahogany, Satinwood, Kingwood, Tulipwood
18th Century Dutch Bombe Slant Front Secretary Desk in Pine
Located in Houston, TX
An exceptional and character-rich 18th century Dutch bombe secretary desk, crafted in warm, honey-toned pine and retaining its beautifully worn original surface.
Pine
Drexel Georgian Mahogany Bombe Form Bureau With Drop Front Secretary Desk
By Drexel
Located in South Bend, IN
An outstanding Georgian or Chippendale style bureau with drop front secretary desk and bookcase hutch top By Drexel USA, 1968 Gorgeous carved mahogany, with original brass hardwa...
Brass
Sold
H 75.5 in W 42 in D 15 in
Italian Olive Burl Wood Cabriole Leg Bombé Secretary Desk With Bookshelf
Located in Delray Beach, FL
Elevate your home decor with the exquisite Italian Olive Burl Wood Secretary Desk. Featuring elegant cabriole legs and a distinct bombé shape, this vintage piece combines functionali...
Burl
Sold
H 40.5 in W 43 in D 21.25 in
Antique Dutch Rococo Inlaid Marquetry Walnut Bombe Secretary Desk Bureau 1780
Located in Portland, OR
A fine 18th century Dutch Rococo walnut inlaid marquetry bombe shaped desk, circa 1780. The desk top is inlaid with a satinwood panel and having corresponding panels to the sides, th...
Fruitwood, Walnut, Ebony, Satinwood
Unusual Dutch Bombe Secretary
Located in Wainscott, NY
This wonderful secretary was discovered in the Netherlands, but its origin is unknown. It appears to be oak, with a lovely natural waxed finish. The apron is carved and terminates in...
Brass
Sold
H 41.75 in W 42 in D 23.5 in
18th C. Dutch Marquetry Inlay Drop Front Secretary Desk Bombe Commode Secretaire
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique Dutch marquetry hand inlaid bombe form drop front desk or secretaire, circa 1790. This remarkable item is heavily inlaid throughout including a beautiful console table with f...
Walnut
Sold
H 45 in W 46 in D 25 in
18th Century French Louis XV Bombe Cherry Desk Secretary Scriban from Bordeaux
Located in Dallas, TX
Put a sophisticated spin on your study or office with this antique slant front desk commode, or "commode scriban". Carved in Bordeaux, France, circa 1760, the fold out secretary is b...
Bronze
Sold
H 42.13 in W 42.13 in D 21.66 in
Antique 18th Century Dutch Oak Drop Front Bombe Secretary Desk Secretaire
Located in Casteren, NL
A beautiful Dutch Baroque style secretary with a 3-drawer bombe front and carved ball and claw feet. The drop front opens up to reveal an oak writing area and stepped drawers. This ...
Brass
Sold
H 86 in W 44.75 in D 20.75 in
Antique Italian Olivewood Bombe Coke Bottle Curved 2 Piece Secretary Desk
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This Antique Italian 2 Piece Bombe Secretary Desk is made with fine burled Olive wood veneer and made of the highest quality!
Olive
Dutch Baroque Drop Front Secretary
Located in Barntrup, DE
Dutch Baroque style bombe form drop front secretary desk has carved ball and claw feet.
Walnut
18th Century Bombe Secretary, Baltic States, circa 1750
Located in San Francisco, CA
A mid-18th century exceptional walnut slant front bombe secretary desk, circa 1750.
Walnut
1920's Burl Walnut Bombé Shaped Desk
Located in San Francisco, CA
1920's burl walnut bombe shaped desk ( secretary, writing desk )
Empire period bed with its canopy
Located in Paris, FR
Empire period bed in solid mahogany and mahogany veneer, richly decorated with finely chased and gilded bronzes, with its canopy. The front of the bed features a lyre in the center, ...
Bronze
Louis XV Style Chinoiserie Slant-Top Desk
Located in Pembroke, MA
A stunning, petite French slant-top desk or "bureau de pente" in the Louis XV style, turquoise and gold polychromed with Chinoiserie detailing, and red under-body. Desk opens to rev...
Bronze
Rare Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Chinese Lacquer Cabinet
Located in Long Island City, NY, NY
A Rare Louis XV Ormolu-Mounted Tulipwood and Chinese Lacquer cabinet, c. 1750 (Regence Period) A truly magnificent, monumental, and one of a kind cabinet, painted throughout with gi...
Ormolu
$197,623
H 57.68 in W 85.44 in
Flemish 17th, Orpheus and Animals, Large Decorative Wall Old Master Painting
Located in Greven, DE
Flemish school, 17th century Orpheus and the animals Oil on canvas, 146,5 x 217 cm Provenance: South German private collection. On an impressive, room-filling format, this painting ...
Canvas, Oil
Allegory of Abundance
Located in New York, NY
Painted in collaboration with Hendrick van Balen (Antwerp, 1575 – 1632). Provenance: Private Collection, Uruguay, since the 1930s. The eldest son of Jan Breughel the Elder, Jan the...
Copper
Very Large Armoire - France, 18th Century
Located in Isle Sur La Sorgue, Vaucluse
Impressive cupboard from a convent (1 meter deep). Carved details, original hinges and key, original paint (except for the cornice). The interior can be adapted according to speci...
Dutch Rococo Style Bombe Burled Walnut Secretaire
Located in Chicago, IL
Dutch Rococo style burled walnut bombe front secretaire with carved ball and claw feet. Three drawers with cast brass pulls and cast brass detailed key holes. Drop front top door ope...
Brass
$8,748
H 43.9 in W 40.36 in D 20.48 in
Antique Dutch Floral Marquetry Inlaid Bombé Bureau, 19th Century
Located in Glasgow, GB
A 19th century Dutch marquetry inlaid bombé bureau profusely decorated all-over with marquetry depictions of flowers, urns and birds. With a rectangular flap opening to reveal a stri...
Brass
Liceu de Artes e Ofícios. 19th Century Daybed
Located in Sao Paulo, SP
This recamier/daybed was conceived and executed with utmost quality and expertise, showing a style that incorporates many influences from the eigtheenth and ninetheenth century. Made...
Wood
$34,723Sale Price|20% Off
H 58.27 in W 42.52 in D 22.84 in
Japanese Lacquer Meiji Period Cabinet on Stand, circa 1890
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A exquisite, fine quality Meiji period (1868-1912) Japanese black lacquer cabinet on stand with wonderful scrolling gilded decoration. Having a pair of inset panel doors depicting sc...
Lacquer
Swiss Gold and Enamel Musical Vinaigrette
Located in New Orleans, LA
A musical movement distinguishes this wonderful early 19th-century gold vinaigrette box. The vessel is covered in delicate engraving highlighted by blue and white champlevé enamel de...
Metal
Baroque Cabinet with Secretaire, Germany, 1750-1760
Located in Belmont, MA
Outstanding baroque cabinet with fall top secretaire, South Germany, 1750-1760. Beautiful walnut veneer with exquisite figural and landscape marquetry on writing top and doors. The c...
Elm, Walnut
19th Century French Renaissance Revival Hunt Buffet
Located in Dallas, TX
19th century French Renaissance Revival Hunt Buffet represents a spectacular example of the glorious revival of the Renaissance that occurred during the middle of the century all acr...
Oak
Russian 19th Century Silver Icon of Christ Pantocrator
Located in London, GB
Russian 19th century silver icon of Christ Pantocrator Moscow, 1883 Height 50cm, width 41.5cm, depth 3cm The piece, steeped in Russian Orthodox tradition, portrays Christ Pantocrato...
Silver
Italian 18th century Giltwood and Oil on Canvas painting
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A sensational and exceptionally detailed Italian 18th century Giltwood and Oil on Canvas painting of Achilles at the Court of Lycomedes, in the manner of Pompeo Batoni. This impressi...
Giltwood
$52,208Sale Price|25% Off
H 44.1 in W 33.86 in
Boeckhorst, Rubens, Saint Ursula, Decorative Old Master, Woman, Baroque, Flemish
By Jan Boeckhorst
Located in Greven, DE
Johann Boeckhorst (Münster 1604 - Antwerp 1668) Saint Ursula Oil on canvas, 112 x 86 cm Provenance: New York, Christe's, 20.3.1981, lot 88 (as Van Diepenbeeck's circle) The presen...
Canvas, Oil
Your antique, new or vintage secretary desk has become the (chic) saving grace of the "new normal" at home.
Simply put, a secretary desk is a multifunctional piece of furniture with a hinged writing surface that folds open or drops down. When the leaf is folded out, small inner storage compartments — pigeonholes, cubbies, recesses or drawers — are revealed.
Traditionally, a secretary is composed of two parts — a chest of drawers on the bottom and a cabinet with shelves on the top. Taking its name from the French word for the piece, secrétaire, the secretary desk dates back to the 18th century, when Paris-based cabinetmaker Jean-François Oeben, known for his exquisite marquetry and clever mechanical desks, is thought to have invented the secrétaire à abbattant, or drop-leaf desk.
While the defining drop-down feature of the secretary desk has remained constant, the materials used, as well as its configuration, size and style have evolved over time.
At first, secretaries were typically made from exotic woods, like rosewood, tulipwood and kingwood; later, hardwoods like cherry, maple, oak and mahogany were more common. The desks also became lighter, with space carved out of the lower half for the writer’s feet or with drawers replaced by legs — making them more table-like.
When open, the secretary is a dynamic, versatile Wunderkammer. When closed, it’s a sophisticated, space-saving piece of furniture.
“A fine secretary with a good provenance adds stature and credence to its owner — it is a cornerstone piece,” says antiques dealer Stanley Weiss, who specializes in 18th- and 19th-century English and American furniture. “In this disposable world, fine furniture is always passed on and speaks to who its owner is.”
No matter what style or period you choose, and no matter how you decide to use it, the timeless, flexible secretary desk is bound to become an indispensable part of your daily routine.
Browse a range of antique and vintage secretary desks on 1stDibs, including mid-century modern secretaires, Georgian secretaires and others.
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