18th Century Baroque Secretary or Writing Desk in Walnut

Details

Description

Exceptional Baroque secretary or writing desk, probably from southern Germany, around 1760.

The softwood corpus à deux corps, ornamentally veneered … Read more Exceptional Baroque secretary or writing desk, probably from southern Germany, around 1760.

The softwood corpus à deux corps, ornamentally veneered in walnut, burl and other precious woods and field veneered, stands on 5 moulded ball feet.

Two-door base with moulded skirting and a large opening in the centre for sufficient knee space.

Both doors are made in Fram construction and hung on external brass fittings. The panels are framed octogonally by multiple moulded coving and finished with banding and maple thread inlays on the front.

The sloping writing flap rises in the centre of the top, behind which there is a large drawer, the panel of which simulates 8 smaller drawers, only one of which is real. When open, the flap is supported by a pull-out shelf underneath. In keeping with the doors, the front is also finished artesanal with banding and maple string inlays.

The top is slightly recessed with a double door flanked by 2 single, slightly concave doors disguised as four rows of drawers.

Like parts of the front, the sides of the carcase are also veneered in a field pattern.

Inside, there is a shelf behind each individual door. Shelves can also be added behind the double door of the top unit on request by our workshop.

The back wall of the unit is partially hand-rubbed with clear traces of the roughing plane.


Dimensions:
167 cm high / 65.74 inch high,
146 cm wide / 57.48 inch wide,
29 cm (top) or 71.5 cm deep / 11.41 inch (top) or 28.14 inch deep.

Worktop:
86 cm high / 33.85 inch high,
81.5 cm wide / 32.08 inch wide,
72 cm deep / 28.34 inch deep.

Total depth with worktop folded out: 108 cm / 42.51 inch.

Shelves at the bottom:
40 cm or 26 cm high / 15.74 inch or 10.23 inch high,
45 cm wide / 17.71 inch wide,
60 cm deep / 23.62 inch deep.

Top shelves:
30 cm or 27 cm high / 11.81 inch or 10.62 inch high,
27 cm wide / 10.62 inch wide,
18.5-23.5 cm deep / 7.28-9.25 inch deep.


Among other things, the following restoration work was carried out: Doors hinged, hinges glued out, function restored; dry crack on inside of flap chipped out; 1 knob for small drawer turned; new leather on pull-out board; complete interior cleaned and resealed; veneer imperfections filled, loose veneer glued down; puttying and retouching; surface cleaned; thin silk-matt shellac coating applied.

Both the lock on the writing flap and the keys are not original. See less