What is Fall Front Desk? An Overview

This entry sits within the Decorative and Applied Arts Encyclopedia, a master reference hub indexing design history, materials, movements, and practitioners.

An Example of Fall Front Desk by Christopher Hopfengärtner, Meisterstück, 1790 — An Example of Fall Front Desk (Wikimedia)

Fall Front Desk – Section of the front face of cabinet, desk or drawer that is hinged at the bottom and can open by falling forward. It is supported in a horizontal, open position by chains or by sliding arms emerging from the body of the piece, LOPERS, to provide a writing surface. Closed, it may rest in a vertical position, as in the Writing Cabinet Or SECRÉTAIRE À ABATTANT, or it may slope upward and toward the back of a piece, as in a SLANT-TOP DESK. The fall front was a development of late MEDIEVAL and RENAISSANCE FURNITURE and has been used ever since.

Upright Position

The desktop panel of is exactly upright when closed, unlike the secretary’s desk. Over the area that the desktop encloses, there are frequently no additional shelves or drawers. The fall-front desk thus resembles a Bargueo desk, which would have been set atop a stand of drawers, or more specifically, the design known as the “chest-on-chest” desk.

The desk may also be called a drop-front desk or a drop-lid desk. Ancient variants include scrutoire and scriptoire. Similar in appearance, the “secrétaire à abattant” is typically in a French style, such as Louis XV, Art Deco, etc. Shaker communities created a tall, simple form of the “cupboard desk” in the early 19th century.