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Secretaires For Sale
Period: Early 20th Century
Period: 1940s
1940's French Art Deco Exotic Rosewood Secretary Cabinet
Located in Opa Locka, FL
c1940's French Art Deco Exotic Rosewood Secretary Cabinet. Top glass enclosed display area. Interior with special sections for desk needs. Rare form.
Category
1940s French Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Wood
Antique Victorian Mahogany Spinet Piano Style Flip Top Secretary Writing Desk
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Antique Victorian Mahogany Spinet Piano Style Flip Top Secretary Writing Desk. Item features 3 drawers, pull out writing surface, flip top, very nice vintage desk. Circa Early 20th ...
Category
Early 20th Century Victorian Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Antique Country French Louis XIV Stripped Oak Secretary ~ Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
Antique Country French Louis XIV Stripped Oak Secretary ~ Desk is ideal for the efficient yet stylish interior! Providing surprising storage within the two full width drawers, the t...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XIV Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Fantastic Paint Decorated Faux Marble Interior Venetian Secretary Desk
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This is an extraordinary secretary desk in the Venetian style. The interior is done in faux marble paint decoration and the exterior is done in a floral and green combination. The de...
Category
Early 1900s Italian Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Gustavian, Swedish Secretaire Desk, White Paint, Pinewood, Sweden, 1900s
Located in Stamford, CT
Gustavian, Swedish Painted Secretaire Desk, White Paint, Pinewood, Sweden, 1900s
Gustavian secretaire desk or storage cabinet designed and produced in Sweden in the early part of the 20th century. This example features a white paint distressed finish. The top portion of the cabinet flips down to reveal a light green paint distressed writing desk...
Category
Early 1900s Swedish Gustavian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Paint
Rosewood Circassian Walnut Inlaid Beveled Glass French Louis XV Secretary Desk
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
From Slatoff Estate. Rosewood with exotic veneer. Vitrine top with marble top. Rouge marble gallery. Beveled glass doors. Brass accents and foot caps. 58" h x 32 1/2" w x 19 5/8" d.
...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Griotte Marble, Bronze
Superb Shallow Depth French Country Painted Mesh Door Secretary Desk
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This is a gorgeous distressed-painted SHALLOW DEPTH secretary desk with slide out leather writing surface with embossed edges. The finish is entirely original including signs of use ...
Category
1940s French French Provincial Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Brass, Wire
Italian Baroque Style Burl Walnut Secretary Desk Cabinet
Located in Bridgeport, CT
A fine Italian baroque burl walnut secretary desk with a cartouche form mirrored panel beneath a deep scrolled pediment top and above two mirrored doors. The doors with a interior wo...
Category
Early 20th Century Italian Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Ebonized Antique Louis XVI Secretary
Located in Austin, TX
Secretary, drop front desk, from France, of Mahogany in the Louis XVI style. This cabinet is finished in a lustrous museum quality ebonized French polish. There are two lower doors w...
Category
1910s French Louis XVI Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Carrara Marble, Brass
Fine Carved Walnut French Louis XV Secretary Desk Abatant Basket of Flowers
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This is a superb carved walnut secretary abatant that's perfect for narrow hallways or shallow areas in a bedroom. The desk is repleat with a tulipwo...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Leather, Tulipwood, Walnut
Italian Mid-Century Secretary Palisander Wood with Inlays by Paolo Buffa 1940s
Located in Salzburg, AT
Exceptional secretary by Paolo Buffa from the late 1940s in Italy.
The object is a real gem due to its distinctive size as well as the fineness of its execution.
The look is clea...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Burl, Bog Wood, Oak, Maple, Boxwood, Birch, Glass, Palisander
Oak Roll Top Secretary Desk with Drawers
Located in Madrid, ES
Oak secretary / writing desk from circa 1900's. Featuring a roll-up flap with underlying writing board, shelf interior and two drawers. Below the writing desk there are two pull-out ...
Category
Early 20th Century British Edwardian Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Italian Art Deco Aquamarine Shagreen Secretaire, Attr. to Borsani, 1940s
Located in Meda, MB
This Art Deco secretaire was produced in Italy in the 1940s and is attributable to Osvaldo Borsani. It is completely in an exotic wood with a black lacquered top and base. The centra...
Category
1940s Italian Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Metal
Early French Art Deco Secretaire Desk with Marquetry and Inlays
Located in Ulm, DE
Secretary
Wooden body, hand-polished shellac
probably stained ash
elaborate inlays and marquetry
freshly mirrored inside
Early Art Déco, France around 1925
Dimensions:
Width: 70 c...
Category
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Wood
20th-Century Mahogany & Pine Wood Vennered With Mahogany Ladies' Secretary Desk
Located in Opole, PL
20th-Century Mahogany & Pine Wood Vennered With Mahogany Ladies' Secretary Desk
A ladies' secretary desk from the early 20th century constructed of mahogany wood and pine wood venee...
Category
Early 20th Century European Secretaires
Materials
Mirror, Mahogany, Pine
1930s Rockford Furniture Jacobean Style Handcrafted Secretary Desk
Located in Germantown, MD
A Jacobean-style slant front Hancrafted and handcarved by the renowned Rockford Chair and Furniture Company. Founded in 1876 by Swedish settlers, the company has a rich heritage of f...
Category
Early 20th Century Jacobean Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Bruno Mathsson reading stand, Karl Mathsson 40's Sweden modernist collector
Located in Forest, BE
Table de lecture en bois et acier nickelé. Daté du début des années 1940. La tablette en bois a été restaurée mais la patine du piétement reste non touché et dans son état le plus proche de l'origine. Ajustable en hauteu. Il y à de beaux détails en laiton. Produite dans les ateliers de son père Karl Mathsson...
Category
1940s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Steel, Nickel
Louis XV Style Carved Oak Drop Front Two Drawers Secretary Bureau, 1920s
Located in Barntrup, DE
Louis XV Style carved oak drop front secretary or bureau or writing desk, two drawers with shaped bronze handles, made in France in the 1920s....
Category
1920s French Louis XV Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Bronze
Edwardian Walnut Secretary with Hand Painted Motifs
Located in WEST PALM BEACH, FL
This is a lovely Edwardian walnut Secretary, the top having two glazed doors within Gothic mullions. The bottom section with a slant drop front, contains a hand painted center medal...
Category
Early 20th Century English Edwardian Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Antique Trumeau Burl Wood Style Secretary Writing Desk Chest with Drawers
Located in Greer, SC
Attractive Italian Rococo style burl wood veneer secretary cabinet, circa early 20th century.
Double bodied with the top part of the cabinet over a slant-front desk with writing comp...
Category
Early 20th Century European Rococo Revival Secretaires
Materials
Wood
Antique Arts & Crafts Macey Five Stack Oak Barrister Bookcase & Desk c1920
By Macey Co.
Located in Big Flats, NY
***Ask About Reduced In-House Shipping Rates - Reliable Service & Fully Insured***
An antique Arts and Crafts barrister bookcase by ...
Category
Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Secretaires
Materials
Glass, Oak
Charles Spooner Arts & Crafts Oak secretaire Cabinet with Serpentine Stretchers
By Charles Spooner
Located in London, GB
Charles Sydney Spooner, probably made by J H Brandt.
A rare oak secretaire cabinet on stand, with quarter veneered panels to the doors and drawers with black and green diamond shaped handles. The doors open to reveal adjustable shelves. The sides and lower stand are all made from solid quarter sawn oak with beautiful figuring. The slightly graduated mouldings to the waist frame the tidy little writing area. Standing on squashed ball feet, united with serpentine entwined stretchers.
This is an oak variation of the cabinet Charles Spooner exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1910. One can see that both cabinets are essentially the same design, one with drawers one with a pull down writing area. Both have quartered veneered panels to the doors, the Mahogany one with applied moulded decoration to the doors.
See : illustration below from : Arts and Crafts Furniture by John Andrews.
See also : Charles Spooner Arts and Crafts Architect, page 209 illustration 10:28.
: Fine Art Society for a Coromandel variation and Puritan Values : Important Furniture Page 1, for a larger four door lacquered panelled variation.
Charles Spooner is noted as one of the most influential people and also credited as one of the fathers of the Arts and Crafts Movement.
Born at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington (London), Spooner was the second of 5 children of Charles Spooner and Sarah Frances Trinder, who lived at Brook Green, Hammersmith. Spooner became an architect and an instructor of furniture design at the London County Council's Central School of Arts and Crafts. He was a pupil and then assistant of Sir A W Blomfield and in 1890 won the RIBA’s Soane Medallion (Proc RIBA). He specialised in smaller churches and houses turning out some beautiful and complete buildings. He was influenced by E W Godwin and contemporary American architects such as H H Richardson. He was a member of the Society and Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Art Workers Guild, he worked in the tradition of William Morris, teaching...
Category
1920s English Arts and Crafts Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Oak
Superb American Stacking Filing Cabinet by Yawman and Erbe
By Yawman Erbe
Located in Chillerton, Isle of Wight
Superb American Stacking Filing Cabinet by Yawman and Erbe
This is a superb Example of an American Stacking System Waterfall Filing Cabinet, this hands...
Category
Early 1900s Art Deco Antique Secretaires
Materials
Oak
Burl Walnut Art Deco Cabinet
Located in Dronten, NL
Period Dutch Art Deco secretary in wonderful burl walnut veneer in symmetrical pattern.
Cut-glass pane, drop front desk, ebony wood door handles.
Comes with three beautiful original ...
Category
1920s Dutch Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Cut Glass, Ebony, Burl
Antique Walnut French Provincial Secretary Cabinet
Located in Portland, OR
Exceptional in every way! Imported from Belgium this French display cabinet with secretary desk is as enchanting as it is functional. Exquisitely crafted of walnut with incredible ha...
Category
Early 20th Century French French Provincial Secretaires
Materials
Glass, Walnut
Antique Arts & Crafts Mahogany Five Stack Barrister Secretary & Bookcase c1910
Located in Big Flats, NY
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An antique Arts and Crafts barrister bookcase offers mahogany construction with central...
Category
Early 20th Century American Arts and Crafts Secretaires
Materials
Glass, Mahogany
English secretary bookcase Arts&Crats 1910
Located in Meulebeke, BE
This English secretary bookcase in arts & crafts style is a beautiful piece of furniture that expresses both elegance and functionality. The secretary bookcase was made around 1910 i...
Category
1910s English Arts and Crafts Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Copper
Antique Louis XVI Desk Cabinet "bureau à pente"
Located in Senonches, Centre-Val de Loire
Louis XVI style antique desk chest of drawers called "bureau à pente".
Three dovetailed drawers, bronze details.
On the front opens a tab...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Brass, Bronze
Vintage Mahogany Secretary with Flip Down Desk and Storage
Located in Hopewell, NJ
Vintage wood tall secretary having pretty flat front with carved wood decoration and urn shape in the center. Lovely grain and particularly narrow depth. Turned legs have a lower tie...
Category
1940s American Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Ernest Gimson A walnut bureau inlaid with holly chequered string inlay.
Located in London, GB
Ernest Gimson attributed. Arts & Crafts Cotswold school walnut bureau inlaid with holly chequered string inlay. The quality of this craftsman handmade bureau is a step above. The fol...
Category
1910s English Arts and Crafts Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
c1900 French Antique Louis XVI Style Burl Wood Secretary/ Desk - Petite Size
Located in Opa Locka, FL
c1900 French Antique Louis XVI style Petite Secretary/ Desk. Louis XVI style and made from Exotic Burl Wood. Upper cabinet book storage/ display. Dr...
Category
Early 1900s Louis XVI Antique Secretaires
Materials
Burl
Bench made Hepplewhite Style Secretary/Bookcase, New England, Circa:1910
Located in Alexandria, VA
This beautiful and elegant piece was probably made around Boston in the early 20th Century. Its design was inspired by late 18th Century New England Hepplewhite styled secretary book...
Category
Early 20th Century American Hepplewhite Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Mobile archivio italiano, legno di noce e dettagli in ottone, modernariato 1940
Located in MIlano, IT
Mobile archivio da ufficio in legno di noce con doppia colonna di cassetti con dettagli in ottone.
1940 ca.
Buone condizioni.
Misure in cm 91,5x40x184h
Favoloso mobile archivio inter...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Antique French Louis XVI Style Secretaire a Abattant
Located in Sheridan, CO
French Louis XVI style fall front desk, early 20th c. This Secretaire desk features a single drawer over fall front panel, opening to fitted interior gallery, inset leather writing s...
Category
1910s French Louis XVI Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Antique Italian Venetian Olive Burl Serpentine Secretary Slant Desk Bureau Chest
Located in Dayton, OH
An impressive antique Italian Venetian drop front secretary desk. Made from olive burl with a downswept lid and serpentine frame. Each panel shows off exquisite burl and shapely cro...
Category
Early 20th Century Neoclassical Secretaires
Materials
Olive, Burl
Pair Antique Country French Walnut Petite Secretaries
Located in Dallas, TX
Pair Antique Country French Walnut Petite Secretaries are truly an amazing and unique find! The design is unusually tall, shallow and narrow all at...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Secretaires
Materials
Brass
1940's Traditional Burl Wood Secretary/ Desk
Located in Opa Locka, FL
Beautiful Grand Scale 1940's Traditional style Burl Wood Secretary/ Writing Desk.
This secretary is in very good condition. Miami Beach acquisition.
Category
1940s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Wood
Antique Country French Secretary ~ Desk
Located in Dallas, TX
Antique Country French Secretary ~ Desk is a wonderful example of the combination of fine craftsmanship with an efficient, space-saving design. Perfect for providing a convenient wo...
Category
Early 20th Century French Louis XIV Secretaires
Materials
Oak
Paolo Buffa Italian Mid-Century Brass Inlaid Secretary
Located in Atlanta, GA
Paolo Buffa, Secretary, Italy c. 1948, Brass Intarsia by Giovanni Gariboldi, Manufactured by Marelli e Colico, Cantù.
An exquisite and collectible Mid-Century secretary by esteemed ...
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Secretary Cabinet, 1920s
Located in Amsterdam, Noord Holland
This cabinet dates from circa 1920, produced in Germany. With 12 drawers and a door with a shelf behind it in the lower part. In the upper part a display case and a flap. The cabinet...
Category
1920s German Industrial Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Glass, Oak, Pine, Plywood
Antique Victorian Painted Grain Dragon Griffon Secretary Library Writing Desk
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique Early 20th Century Victorian style secretary writing desk featuring painted grain finish and dragon / serpent / griffon carving. The desk opens to large writing surface with...
Category
Early 20th Century Victorian Secretaires
Materials
Hardwood
Italian Art Deco Maple Briar, Gold Leaf and Black Lacquered Secretaire, 1940s
Located in Meda, MB
This Art Deco secrétaire was produced in Italy in the 1940s.
It is completely made of an elegant maple briar, with black lacquered and gold leafed details.
In particular, some of t...
Category
1940s Italian Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Gold Leaf
Early 20th Century French Wooden Secretary
Located in High Point, NC
A wooden desk created in early 20th century France. A crest of musical instruments and vines is proudly engraved into the center of this illustrious desk, framed in by a series of fl...
Category
Early 20th Century French French Provincial Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Antique Chippendale Serpentine Oxbow Mahogany Secretary Library Writing Desk 40"
Located in Dayton, OH
Antique early 20th century Chippendale style secretary or writing desk. Made of mahogany featuring serpentine form with drop front writing surface that opens to multiple drawers and ...
Category
Early 20th Century Chippendale Secretaires
Materials
Mahogany
Antique Chippendale Style Walnut Drop Front Secretary Ladies Writing Desk
Located in Dayton, OH
An antique early 20th century ladies' secretary desk. Made from walnut with a maple writing surface. Features a drop front with neoclassical brass hardware over large central drawer ...
Category
Early 20th Century Chippendale Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Extraordinary Colorful Rococo Style Painted Secretary Cabinet with Chair
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Custom painted in a striking blue exterior with an electric and contrasting green interior and having a strong form, ornate gilt hinges and pulls, escutcheons (with keys) and Top fin...
Category
1940s Rococo Revival Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Metal
Antique Oak Secretary Desk, Sweden, circa 1920
Located in Chorzów, PL
Antique secretary from the beginning of the 20th century.
Made of oak wood.
Very good condition.
Dimensions: Height 111 cm / width 88 cm / depth. 52 cm.
Category
1920s Swedish Chippendale Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Oak
Secretary Cabinet by Emile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Located in New York, NY
A Macassar ebony secretaire side cabinet with a rectangular stepped top above an open recess and a fall front enclosing a fitted interior, flan...
Category
Early 20th Century Secretaires
Materials
Macassar
Semi Antique Mahogany Secretary On Chinese Chippendale Style Stand
Located in Bridgeport, CT
Provenance: Sotheby's NY. The secretary with a drop front in the form of three drawers but opening to drawers and cubby holes. With a black tooled writing surface. The stand with two...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chippendale Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Extremely Rare, 20th Century Arthur Conan Doyle Goyard Desk Trunk
By Goyard
Located in Hong Kong, HK
Extremely rare, Goyard Desk Trunk
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a British doctor and writer famous the world over for his Sherlock Holmes series of...
Category
Early 20th Century French Secretaires
Materials
Brass
H.E. SHAW Antique Early 20th Century Mahogany Georgian Secretary Desk
Located in Charlotte, NC
A Georgian style secretary desk by H.E. Shaw Furniture. Mahogany with brass hardware, wood drawer knobs, scroll pediment top with three finials, an e...
Category
Early 20th Century American Georgian Secretaires
Materials
Brass
Early 20th-Century Biedermeier Brown Oak Secretary Desk
Located in Opole, PL
Early 20th-Century Biedermeier Brown Oak Secretary Desk
We present you this piece of furniture composed of a three-drawer dresser with a sliding de...
Category
Early 20th Century European Biedermeier Secretaires
Materials
Oak
Antique Traditional Secretary Wood Desk with Shelf, FR-1062
Located in Scottsdale, AZ
Antique Traditional Secretary Wood Desk with Shelf
The secretary desk with shelf originates from France. The wood desk has a warm, worn black fi...
Category
Early 20th Century French Secretaires
Materials
Wood
1930s Art Deco Secretary Cabinet
Located in Pasadena, TX
1930s Art Deco secretary cabinet.
Exquisite Art Deco display cabinet in walnut with glass front doors featuring fretwork design. The center features...
Category
1940s European Art Deco Vintage Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Antique Kittinger Jacobean Spanish Revival American Walnut Carved Secretary Desk
By Kittinger
Located in Dayton, OH
Extremely rare one of a kind early Kittinger Jacobean Revival fall front secretary writing desk. Made from American walnut with a carved and paneled...
Category
Early 20th Century Jacobean Secretaires
Materials
Oak, Walnut
Stunning 1900s Burr & Burl Walnut Drop Front Bureau Desk Lovely Timber Patina
Located in GB
We are delighted to offer for sale this lovely circa 1900 Burr & Burl Walnut drop front bureau
A good looking and well-made piece, you don't come across many in Burr walnut, it i...
Category
Early 1900s English Edwardian Antique Secretaires
Materials
Walnut
Vintage Faux Bamboo Chest of Drawers with White Marble Top, France, 1900s
Located in Copenhagen K, DK
France, 1900
Faux bamboo chest of drawers with white marble top.
H 144 x W 87 x D 40 cm
Category
Early 20th Century French Secretaires
Materials
Marble
Exuberantly Carved Oak French Louis XV Secretary Desk Circa 1900
Located in Swedesboro, NJ
This is a fantastic and unbelievably exuberantly carved solid oak secretary desk with frolicking cherubs and incredible carving for an oak desk. Usually this kind of crisp carving is...
Category
Early 1900s French Louis XV Antique Secretaires
Materials
Oak
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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