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Secretaires For Sale
Period: 18th Century
Period: 17th Century
Period: 15th Century and Earlier
Period: 16th Century
18th Century Dutch Burl Walnut Secretary Cabinet Scriban Desk library Antique LA
Located in West Hollywood, CA
An important and rare 18th century Dutch burl walnut secretaire cabinet Scriban desk Enclosing fitted interior incorporating pigeonholes, hinged compart...
Category
18th Century Dutch Antique Secretaires
Materials
Wood, Walnut
18th Century Walnut Scriban Secretary
Located in Marseille, FR
Secretary scriban walnut 18th century Provençal work in used condition.
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Louis XV Baroque Walnut Fall Front Desk/Secretaire
Located in Darmstadt, DE
The desk is from the time around 1730 and covered with a beautiful marquetry of different walnut / walnut root wood on a pine body.
All three locks are original from that time as wel...
Category
Early 18th Century French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut, Pine
18th Centurey Baroque Walnut Tabernacle / Secretaire
Located in Darmstadt, DE
The Tabernacle Secretaire is divided into 3 parts.
The upper part has a door with a snap lock in the middle, in this compartment the three small drawers on the right and left side c...
Category
18th Century Austrian Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Transformation Secretary circa 1795 by Johann Michael Vetter, Neuwied, Mahogany
Located in Epfach, DE
Transformation secretary circa 1795 by Johann Michael Vetter, Neuwied, Mahogany
Secretary with in height adjustable standing desk
different ...
Category
Late 18th Century German Directoire Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Louis XVI Ormolu-Mounted Mahogany Secrétaire en Cabinet by Jean-Francois Leleu
By Jean-François Leleu
Located in Kittery Point, ME
The later breccia marble top over two paneled doors opening to reveal shelves, above a drawer over a fall front with an interior fitted with drawers and compartments, and two further...
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Antique 18th Century Dutch Marquetry Inlaid Burr Walnut Bombe Slope-Front Bureau
Located in Charleston, SC
Finest antique Dutch marquetry inlaid burr walnut bombe' shape slope-front bureau with exceptional fitted interior and baize writing surface
Please note extraordinary cast brass h...
Category
Late 18th Century Dutch Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century, George II Mahogany Secretary Bookcase
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A magnificent English 18th century Chippendale secretary bookcase of exceptional detail. The composition is marked by a robustness...
Category
1760s English Chippendale Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Large French Directoire Period Traveling Secretary Desk
Located in Pembroke, MA
This French Directoire traveling secretary is made of walnut. Its large size is unusual and would make an impressive statement in a study. The top sec...
Category
Late 18th Century French Directoire Antique Secretaires
Materials
Iron, Brass
18th Century English Secretary
Located in New Orleans, LA
Queen Anne period furnishings such as this walnut secretary are incredibly rare and important examples of English cabinetmaking. This secretary is of the most outstanding caliber, boasting desirable double bonnet, mirrored cabinet doors...
Category
18th Century English Queen Anne Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Baroque Bureau In Walnut With Inlays
Located in Kastrup, DK
A very beautiful Baroque bureau. Thick walnut veneer with inlays.
Hidden "secret" locking system for the drawers in the upper section.
Grate quality Ni...
Category
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass, Iron
Baroque Cabinet with Secretaire, Germany 1750
Located in Belmont, MA
Stunning original baroque cabinet, Germany 1750. The cabinet originates from the area of the city of Brunswick. Walnut, plum wood and satinwood veneer. The cabinet will be directly s...
Category
1750s German Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Serpentine Bow Front Butler's Desk or Bureau Desk
Located in Madrid, ES
This is a beautiful example of a "Butler's Desk" which was used in the 18th and 19th centuries by the head servant of a household. Basically a bureau combined with a standing desk, clothing and personal items could be stored in lower drawers and important papers and records would be kept in the desk, which closes up and slides into the body of the bureau when not in use. This piece is in particularly fine shape, exhibiting rich wood grain and a sliding desk...
Category
18th Century Spanish Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Italian Inlaid Walnut Secretaire
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
Elegant secretaire in walnut wood. Very simple and ideal in any environment. This secretaire is made up of two parts. A support table with a comfortable drawer on the front, elegant ...
Category
1780s Italian Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Baroque Secretaire à Trois Corps, 18th Century
Located in Greding, DE
Large Baroque secretaire on bun feet with a three-drawer commode base with a serpentine front, a writing surface at a height of 80 cm and a broken pediment top part. The doors and dr...
Category
18th Century European Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Wood
18th Century Walnut and Giltwood Secretary
Located in Dallas, TX
Very handsome English walnut giltwood secretary. Myriad drawers, pigeon holes and cupboards fill the well-appointed interior. Very functional as well as beautiful.
Category
18th Century English Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Louis XVI Fall Top Desk
Located in Belmont, MA
Louis XVI fall top desk, made in the Strassburg region, (France) in the 18th century. Stunning walnut root veneer with carved sunflower details on the co...
Category
1780s French Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Walnut Secretary in Louis XVI Style
Located in Vulpellac, Girona
18th century secretary in Louis XVI style in walnut. It features three large drawers on the bottom and on the top the secretary opens to five s...
Category
18th Century Spanish Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Baroque Cabinet with Secretaire, Germany, 1760
Located in Belmont, MA
18th century Baroque cabinet with secretaire, Germany, 1760, walnut veneer. Beautiful piece in excellent condition, professionally rest...
Category
1760s German Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Louis XV Secretaire, France 1770
Located in Belmont, MA
Exquisite secretaire de dame, France 18th century, beautiful kingwood veneer on front, sides, top, back and the inside. The writing surface is covered with leather. With original bro...
Category
1770s French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Kingwood
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 marque...
Category
1750s German Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Elm, Walnut
Fine English Queen Anne Walnut Bookcase with Secretary Desk
Located in Miami, FL
A fine 18th century English Queen Anne-period furnishings such as this walnut secretary are incredibly rare and important examples of English cabinetmaking, all original. This secret...
Category
18th Century French Queen Anne Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mirror, Walnut
Queen Anne Period Oak Slant-Top English Desk
Located in Port Chester, NY
A country late 17th century bureau from England, in wonderful condition for its age. The desk has a drop down front with original large hinges and...
Category
1690s English Antique Secretaires
Materials
Oak
British Colonial Ebony Bureau Bookcase
Located in Greenwich, CT
Exceedingly rare early 18th century English colonial Macassar ebony diminutive bureau bookcase with hexagonal oyster veneered doors, lids and drawer fronts, the sides and secondary timbers all in solid streaky ebony having rich patination, The upper section with two arched mirror doors concealing two adjustable shelves, a row of pigeon holes and two drawers, over single candle slide, the lower section with stepped interior, further pigeon holes and sliding well, over two short and two long drawers and standing on bracket base. Southern India or Sri Lanka, circa 1720.
English colonial furniture...
Category
1710s Sri Lankan William and Mary Antique Secretaires
Materials
Ebony
Rare Pair of 18th Century Italian Double Dome Bureau Bookcases, circa 1760
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A rare and impressive pair of 18th century Italian burr walnut double dome bureau bookcases, each with canted corners, turned, carved and gilded finials. Ebonised moldings, panelled ...
Category
18th Century Italian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Italian Walnut Lombardy Bureau Cabinet
Located in London, GB
A good Lombardy Bureau cabinet of the 18th century
Constructed in a well patinated walnut; rising from scrolled feet, supporting a bombe form base with three inset shaped long dr...
Category
Mid-18th Century Italian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mirror, Walnut, Wood
18th Century Dutch Burr Walnut Floral Marquetry Bureau
Located in London, GB
This is a wonderful antique late 18th century Dutch burr walnut and marquetry bombe' bureau.
It has been accomplished in burr walnut, with exquisite hand cut floral marquetry typica...
Category
1780s Dutch Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Italian Louis XV Walnut Chest of Drawers with Secretaire
Located in Casale Monferrato, IT
Elegant chest with secretaire of the early 18th century, beautiful from the quality that can only be obtained from workshops of great cabinet-making. The limelight comes in front of drawers moved entirely in solid walnut. Spectacular interior castle...
Category
1740s Italian Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Gothic Mahogany Secretaire and Bookcase, Original Glass
Located in Port Chester, NY
A fine example of multipurpose 18th century Gothic English furniture, with a generously proportioned bookcase on top, and built in secretaire ...
Category
Mid-18th Century English Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
18th Century Irish Georgian Palladian Breakfront Bookcase
Located in Essex, MA
George II Palladian mahogany breakfront bookcase, 18th century
The broken swan's-neck pediment with gadroon- and dentil-carved bands terminating in a foliate roundel, above a like-carved frieze over two central doors, each inset with a shaped mirrored panel, flanked to either side by a single door, featuring a finely carved floral festoon, centered by fluted Corinthian pilasters, opening to a shelved interior, the lower section fitted with a drop-front secretary drawer opening to an inset leather writing surface and a variety of drawers and cubbyholes, flanked to either side by two small drawers, over two paneled cupboard doors, the side sections each fitted with four graduated drawers, raised on a plinth base.
This design is similar to those found in William Salmon's, "Palladio Londinensis."
Reference this exact piece in "The Antiques Directory Furniture," General Editors, Judith and Martin Miller, Portland House, New York, 1985, page 118 Breakfront (C Price Classification: "An Early George III mahogany breakfront secretaire bookcase, with shaped bevelled glazed cupboard doors, flanked by outer doors carved with Corinthian pilasters, lower section with secretaire drawer")
Provenance: Williams Antiques...
Category
Mid-18th Century Irish Georgian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
18th Century British Regency Bureau Chiffonier in Manner of Gillows
Located in Dallas, TX
Fantastic piece in impeccable condition. Regency exotic hardwood bureau or secretaire desk or cabinet of lovely proportions.
From circa 1790. The top portion consists of an open columned pelmet and shelf with a series of drawers underneath. All made of rosewood. The bottom section is a double door cabinet with double shelving inside. The façade of the doors consist of glorious gilded latticework frames with rose shaped connectors and with brown silk blinds...
Category
Late 18th Century English Regency Antique Secretaires
Materials
Rosewood
Baroque Secretaire, Bern ‘Switzerland’ 1750, Attribute to Mathaeus Funk
By Mathaeus Funk
Located in Belmont, MA
Exquisite 18th century Baroque secretaire, Bern (Switzerland) 1750, attributed to Mathaeus Funk (cabinetmaker 1697-1783). Rectangular body with two ...
Category
1750s Swiss Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Fine George III Diminutive Mahogany and Satinwood Secretaire
Located in Essex, MA
With rectangular cornice over a pair of gothic mullioned doors enclosing a fitted interior, the base with drawer enclosing a fitted desk interior all over three drawers ending on spl...
Category
1790s English George III Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
18th Century Antique English George II Virginia Walnut Bureau
Located in Devon, GB
A good quality George II period antique bureau in well figured walnut, standing on bracket feet and with replaced handles and escutcheons. It has a fall front with a loper support at each end and is set above four long finely graduated drawers. The beautiful fitted interior has six fretted pigeon holes, six drawers, secret book drawers and a central opening door, flanked by decorative carved pilasters.
This bureau is made of so-called “Virginia walnut...
Category
18th Century British George II Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Early 18th Century Solid Walnut English Bureau Bookcase
Located in Bedfordshire, GB
A delightful early 18th century solid walnut bureau bookcase having attractive
double domed top with replacement mirror plates to panelled doors
enclosing well fitted interior abov...
Category
Early 18th Century English Georgian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Queen Anne Double Dome Burr Walnut Bureau Bookcase
Located in London, GB
Here we have a beautiful antique Queen Anne double dome bureau bookcase in burr walnut and dated by our experts to have been made around 1720.
Although Queen Anne actually reigned f...
Category
1720s Queen Anne Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Dressing Chest
Located in Tyrone, Northern Ireland
An 18th century mahogany dressing chest with bookcase and writing surface, designed by Thomas Chippendale. An attractive, practical and compact piece of...
Category
Mid-18th Century English Chippendale Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Italian style "bargueño". Tortoiseshell, wood, bronze. 18th century.
Located in Madrid, ES
Uncovered sample desk made of wood, with the central part advanced and highlighted with a double chapel of architectural composition. Each of the sides has five drawers with the front decorated with tortoiseshell and an elaborate golden bronze lock shield (two rampant lions faced, located on a garland and with a shield crowned between them, in which the hollow of the key). The center of the front has two levels: the lower one has four columns with éntasis, two on each side and joined by an entablature and a top finish in dark wood, and a series of gold metal elements in the center between which it stands out, sheltered under a semicircular arch, the figure of Hercules fighting against Caco; the upper one has some moldings forming some recesses, with an important heraldic shield in the center, all enhanced with volutes towards the sides, and different elements in gilded metal, of classicist inspiration.
The general scheme of the furniture responds to a very widespread and valued model in 17th century Europe, of which the best examples have been, as a rule, those of Italian manufacture, and which is continued in the eighteenth century without breaking the compositional clarity of the one that shows in this frontal but yes changing slight decorative details and elements in the area of the central chapel, above all. The practice of using tortoiseshell plates...
Category
18th Century European Neoclassical Antique Secretaires
Materials
Bronze
English Mahogany Secretary With Mirrored Bookcase. Circa 1780
Located in Hollywood, SC
English mahogany secretary with mirrored bookcase. Secretary has a upper case broken pediment top with dental molding, original mirrored doors, c...
Category
1780s English George III Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Late 17th Century Northern European Walnut Secretary
Located in Pasadena, CA
18th century walnut marquetry secretaire with brass hardware and overlaid hinges. The upper cabinet with two doors that open to reveal drawers and pockets. A later modification provides for two arms that swing out to hold a built in shelf. The lower portion divided into four stepped drawers...
Category
Late 17th Century Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Baroque Secretaire, Lake Constance Region
Located in Belmont, MA
18th century baroque secretaire, Lake Constance region. Two-drawer body on curved square feet, foldable desk, inside six drawers, a wide shelf and a sec...
Category
1750s German Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Baroque Secretaire, South German, 1750-1760
Located in Belmont, MA
Unique 18th century Baroque secretaire, South German, probably Lake of Constance region, circa 1750-1760.
Elaborate bombe shaped Baroque secretaire with beautiful walnut, elmwood an...
Category
1750s German Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Louis XVI Ormolu-Mounted Mahogany Secretaire Stamped Sotto
Located in Kittery Point, ME
With a canted white marble rectangular top with a three-quarter pierced gallery above a frieze drawer, the fall-front with gilt-tooled black leather writing surface enclosing a fitte...
Category
Late 18th Century French Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat
Located in Berlin, DE
18th Century French Louis XV Transition Marquetry Gilt Bronze Desk Bureau Plat
An 18th century gilt-bronze mounted double-face desk or bureau plat with herring-bone marquetry. The k...
Category
18th Century French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Bronze
18th Century Louis XV Provincial Walnut Secretaire
Located in New York, NY
Of unusually large scale; the upper section with arched cornice over a pair of wire-inset doors opening to fabric lined interior fitted with shelves; the lower section with a slant f...
Category
Mid-18th Century French Rococo Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
18th Century Louis XV Marquetry Ladies' Desk Manner of J.C. Ellaume
Located in Berlin, DE
18th Century Louis XV Marquetry Ladies' Desk Manner of J.C. Ellaume
A mid-18th century ladies' desk or so-called "bureau de pente", its shaped fall-front opening to reveal a red lea...
Category
1750s French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Bronze
Italian early 18th century Baroque Walnut Secretary-Bookcase
Located in Troy, NY
Italian secretary with beautiful, thick walnut radica veneer, wonderful color, ebonized moldings, most likely retaining the original mirror plates. The two upper doors open to reveal a fitted interior, the lower part has a fitted desk compartment...
Category
Early 18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
English Scarlet Gilt and Polychrome Japanned Secretary
Located in Stamford, CT
A marvelous 18th century scarlet gilt and poly chrome secretary later Japanned. This English secretary has a double domed cornice over a pair of mirrored doors opening to fitted inte...
Category
18th Century English Antique Secretaires
Materials
Wood
Early George III Period Bureau Bookcase with Swan Neck Pediment
Located in Atlanta, GA
An early George III period bureau bookcase with fretwork swan neck pediment, 30-paned bookcase, slant front enclosed leather writing surface, fitted...
Category
1760s English George III Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Italian 18th Century Rococo Secretary with Mirrored Doors and Lacca Povera Décor
Located in Palm Desert, CA
An Italian Rococo period lacca povera tall secretary from the 18th century, with bonnet top, mirrored-doors and slant-front desk over drawers. This exquisite 18th century Italian Roc...
Category
18th Century Italian Rococo Antique Secretaires
Materials
Paper, Mirror, Wood
Danish Louis XVI Bureau. In Cuban Mahogany
Located in Kastrup, DK
Louis XVI bureau made in Cuban mahogany.
Top cabinet as well as the base with fluted quarter columns.
Copenhagen Denmark, circa 1780.
Category
Late 18th Century Danish Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Continental Gustavian Painted Secretary
Located in New York, NY
Continental Gustavian-style (Possibly Swedish/ Danish 18th Century) off-white painted secretary with carved column sides and carved simple swag and t...
Category
18th Century Swedish Gustavian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Wood
Turn of the 18th -19th C. Swedish Rococo Style Slant Front Secretary w/ Drawers
Located in Atlanta, GA
A late 18th century-early 19th century Rococo style slant front painted fir Swedish secretary with bonnet top, two doors and multiple drawers. The doors open up on inner shelves, inc...
Category
Late 18th Century Swedish Rococo Antique Secretaires
Materials
Fir
Blue Painted Swedish Secretaire
Located in Washington, DC
A blue painted Swedish Drop Front Secretaire with decorative painting inside the doors.
Category
Late 18th Century Swedish Antique Secretaires
Materials
Wood, Paint
Russian Mahogany Secretary Bookcase
Located in New York, NY
Russian (18th Century) mahogany secretary bookcase with brass gallery pediment and trim with 2 front doors revealing 3 drawers and shelves ...
Category
Late 18th Century Russian Empire Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Walnut Chippendale Slant-Front Desk
Located in West Chester, PA
Desk with bold serpentine interior, document drawers with turnings and flames, and block-and-shell prospect door with carved tulip. Case with four gra...
Category
18th Century Antique Secretaires
Materials
Tulipwood
Louis XVI Bureau, Copenhagen, circa 1780.
Located in Kastrup, DK
Elegant Louis XVI bureau in mahogany Copenhagen, 1780.
Behind the writing flap small drawers and a tambour door. Loose top cabinet with original tambo...
Category
Late 18th Century Danish Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Continental Dutch Satinwood Secretary
Located in New York, NY
Continental Dutch-style (18/19th Century) satinwood and inlaid trimmed drop front desk with chinoiserie decorated lacquered panels and brass gallery
Category
Late 18th Century European Chinoiserie Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Antique, New and Vintage Secretaires
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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