So, my wife was at the dump and happened upon a friggin treasure. It needed a little bit of cleaning and work, but it’s the biggest secretary desk I’ve ever seen. An darned pretty with all the burled walnut. It’s supposedly all original and from the mid 1800s. . .seems ironic that the nicest piece of furniture in my house is dedicated to vaping. Repurposed mahogany steeping box on the left there. I’m enamored with it. It deserves better than me, but so does the wife…and the forum. Lol.
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Sweet. Great find!
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dope.
straight dope.
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That looks great and lots of space left for more 
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OMG… you even set it up like an Altar. So cool! 
Dang what dump do y’all go to Hee hee !
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That is AWESOME!
I would still be at that dump looking for more , you know they had to throw away something else.
Maybe a hunt for Faberge eggs is in order?
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absolutely stunning. Great find. If you ever wind up on antiques roadshow with it…leave the vape gear inside 
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I should explain. . .New England has tons of crazy awesome antiques and a very high average wealth. I live in what people consider a fancy town. . .I live in the non fancy part and moved here not knowing anything about anything. But yeah, ferraris and Rolls Royce are around.
I’d bet 50% of people take their trash directly to the dump. It’s sort of a thing here. Most of them have a small second hand store where you can drop off non-trash if the guy wants it. My neighbor restores old furniture for the guy and this came in there the morning my wife mentioned to him she was looking for a secretary desk for me.
That said, this thing is clearly exceptional. I mean, I might as well be cleaning fish on it, it is such a gem. But we aren’t really into projecting an image or whatever and use what we have. THIS just happens to be made from my father’s favorite wood and matches the humidor he gave me before he passed, when I finished my PhD. My wife bought it without even consulting me. . .because she is awesome.
BoyHowdy, not sure where you’re from but yeah, it was really weird when we moved here many years ago. The average wealth is SO obviously higher. your comment on hunting for Faberge eggs is still the way I feel. . .people have 11 car attached garages. Not me, definitely not me.
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Walnut is my favorite wood as well! When it is a burl ,feather ,or flame pattern it just makes it all the more special.
Thank you for sharing the pic and the story!
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That is truly a beautiful piece! Walnut isn’t my favorite, but I truly appreciate the beauty of it and it is second only to my favorite wood. Cherry.
That is a special lady to surprise you with such a kingly gift.
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Mid 1800’s in that condition is pretty damn good. That is a very beautiful piece TRW. I am with Brad and Cherry is my favorite wood for furniture. But I grew up working with Walnut in my dad’s wood shop and I love it. Some of our most beautiful pieces were made using Walnut my dad and I cut down one summer. Well dad did the cutting, and I did the grunt work of course. We took 3 heaping truck loads of logs to the saw mill and dad brought home a truckload of Walnut lumber a month of so later. So much he didn’t care what I made out of it.
Awesome find. Hell of a woman you got there man. And she has an eye for picking out beautiful furniture. Let me know if you ever decide to part with that beauty.
Oh, and let me know if you ever want to sell the secretary 
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That is unreal, I’d still be squealing like a little girl if I’d found something that beautiful! Who in their right mind would toss something like that??
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I’m coughing because you got me laughing so hard…
The barrel shaped lid had broken off and new hinges had to be made for that. There is a crown section that goes on the top that my ceiling won’t accomodate that was busted pretty badly. All of the dowels that held the various sections together had busted or been cut off and it needed a clean and coat of satin lacquer…but it was relatively minor work (that I didn’t have to do).
So I dunno, I try not to ask to many questions when something falls in my lap. LOL.
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That is gorgeous! Kudos on such a great find!!!
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What a wonderful find, and a doubly wonderful wife for bringing home this treasure and allowing its new use.
It wouldn’t look out of place in a Victorian pharmacy but looks fabulous repurposed for a modern day alchemist. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you guys for reinforcing what I already know, that my wife is the bomb. I get lucky with finds like this far more often than I deserve. That includes finding this place and you people.
Many thanks to @daath, @Alisa, and @JoJo for making this place for us to come together and share.
One lesson learned, though I figured it would happen: don’t store your flavors in the unicorn bottles if you’re going to put them on shelves unless you like playing dominoes on every mix.
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What a gorgeous piece! Wonderful find & thank you for sharing!
A case of one man’s garbage being everyone elses treasure.
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