When approaching an antique secretary, look first for a central cabinet. Their fronts opened to reveal a desk space with lots of storage, and all those pigeon holes and drawers presented prime opportunities for cabinet makers to strut their stuff and build secret spaces into an already intricate layout of storage compartments. Coming onto the scene in the 18th century, secretaries were a status symbol and writing desk wrapped into one, and were ideal for storing valuables.

The kings of the secret compartment game and the place where you will most commonly find hidden storage is within the intricate details of secretary desks. This swings aside to reveal two drawer panels, each with four Birmingham Chippendale-style pulls. A button underneath can be pressed to release its front half. Secret elements include the resulting surprises from turning the central key to the right (see detail of keyhole, shown) when the compartment to the right of the kneehole slides forward. 1776-79, was a technical marvel created by David Roentgen of Germany. There is a certain amount of bulk of space to be accounted for in every cabinet.” If a drawer looks too shallow for the space it occupies and doesn’t quite make sense, further investigation might be in order. These all illustrate a central rule when dealing with hidden compartments in furniture, best stated by the Chief of Police in Edgar Allan Poe’s The Purloined Letter: “Any man is a dolt who permits a ‘secret’ to escape him in a search of this kind. In fact, abrasions on the wall of the chest may indicate to a careful collector that the front of the compartment slides up and reveals a secret area at the compartment’s base. A careful inspection might reveal that the obvious bottom of this storage compartment is not the true bottom of the box. Blanket chests often open to reveal storage, such as a box compartment built into the side. That same blanket chest mentioned before likely traveled with an immigrant to America and hid his or her secret documents or valuables from prying eyes. Italian cabinetmakers popularized multi-purpose furniture in the late 16th and 17th centuries, and the handy trend made its way around Europe and to the western world in the 18th century. Early Renditions Within this piece is a hidden drawer or false bottom underneath, perfect for storing important paperwork. In this article, we’ll explore the many forms concealment took in antique furniture through the years, and where to look on the pieces you may come across in your collection. Most were useful, offering hiding places at a time when advanced security, or space, wasn’t available. Many of the original examples enclosed within beautiful pieces of utilitarian and not-so-utilitarian furniture can still be used today, and many are incorporated into contemporary furniture for the same reasons they were created originally – keeping secrets.Īs these pieces of furniture were being created, some examples demonstrated a cabinet maker’s crafting and engineering skills or entertained with their frivolity. Keeping personal and public secrets safe is something that continues to plague each of us today despite the current tools at our disposal to use in-person and online. When it came to hiding important ephemera tied to history, these compartments performed their duty as added security to keep secrets away from any who may wish to “explore” an office of an adversary or “get lost” into areas of a home or building where they should not be exploring. Such a solid, practical item seems like the last place for surprising features, but without fancy safe deposit boxes or other high-end precautions, the average person needed a place to hide their treasures, no matter what shape they might take. Enter: furniture with hidden storage. photo: Ĭonsider the humble blanket chest: a piece of furniture that might travel with its owners across an ocean or a country. Example of one of many ways to create and access secret storage.

Dresser with secret compartments