Secrets of an escritoire
In an early 19th century writing desk, also known as a secretary or escritoire, conservators have recently discovered long-forgotten secrets in hidden compartments which no one knew were there.
As realms of personal privacy, such writing desks were often constructed with secret compartments. But in this case, recent conservation work uncovered further concealed spaces behind the ones that were already known.
The newly discovered compartments are hard to access. To get at them you have to
- Open the middle door
- Pull out a drawer
- Press a device on the underside
1. This releases a wooden casket on one side of the inner recess.
2. On the other side, there is a unit with tiny drawers.
3. In the wooden casket, the conservators found two cardboard boxes containing delicate objects made of hair and a bead necklace.
4. The drawer unit contained further beads and two keys.
These items are probably not as old as the desk itself. The last family to own the writing desk bought it in the late 19th century. Even so, it seems that someone in the family had something to hide!
In 2022, the escritoire and its secrets will be on display in the new National Museum.
