spinet desk
A spinet desk is an antique desk with an exterior shape similar to a writing table, but slightly higher and is fitted with a single drawer under the whole length of the flat top surface. The spinet desk is so named because when closed it resembles a spinet, a musical instrument of the harpsichord family. This single drawer, however, is a dummy.
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wikidata · Q7577538 · wikipedia · Spinet desk
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Overview
It is a hinged panel that is meant to be folded in, at the same time as half of the hinged top surface is folded back onto the top of the other half, revealing an inner desktop surface of normal height, with small drawers and pigeonholes in the back. In certain spinet desks, the inner desktop surface can be drawn out a few inches, adding working space. • Illustration — Front of spinet desk, closed • Illustration — Side of spinet desk, partly open The image of the front of the spinet desk shows it in a closed position while the image of the side shows it in a partly open position, just before the hinged mobile part of the top is placed on the fixed part of the top. Like them, and unlike the secretary desk or the fall front desk, it can be closed up without disturbing too much the paperwork and various documents and implements left on the main desktop surface.
Spinet desk is a desk.
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reference work
- “Spinet desk”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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- Wikidata, structured authority record Q7577538: spinet desk
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Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Spinet desk, revision 1362955899 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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