A spinet desk is an antique desk

Desk

A desk is a furniture form and a class of table often used in a work or office setting for reading or writing on or using a computer. Desks often have one or more drawers to store office supplies and papers. Unlike a regular table, usually only one side of a desk is suitable to sit on . Not all...

 form which has the exterior shape of a slightly higher than usual writing table

Writing table

A writing table has a series of drawers directly under the surface of the table, to contain writing implements, so that it may serve as a desk...

, 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

Spinet

A spinet is a smaller type of harpsichord or other keyboard instrument, such as a piano or organ.-Spinets as harpsichords:While the term spinet is used to designate a harpsichord, typically what is meant is the bentside spinet, described in this section...

, a musical instrument

Musical instrument

A musical instrument is a device created or adapted for the purpose of making musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. The history of musical instruments dates back to the...

 of the harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

 family.

This single drawer, however, is a dummy. It is a hinged panel which is meant to be folded in, at the same time as half of the hinged top surface is folded back on to 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.

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.

By this capacity of hiding or revealing the main working area the spinet desk could be said to be a smaller, less obtrusive cousin of the rolltop desk

Rolltop desk

A rolltop desk is a 19th century reworking of the pedestal desk with, in addition, a series of stacked compartments, shelves, drawers and nooks in front of the user, much like the bureau à gradin or the Carlton House desk...

 and the cylinder desk

Cylinder desk

The cylinder desk is a desk that resembles a Bureau Mazarin or a writing table equipped with small stacked shelves in front of the user's main work surface, and a revolving cylinder part that comes down to hide and lock up the working papers when the desk is not in use...

. Like them, and unlike the secretary desk

Secretary desk

A secretary desk is made of a base of wide drawers topped by a desk with a hinged desktop surface, which is in turn topped by a bookcase usually closed with a pair of doors, often made of glass...

 or the fall front desk

Fall front desk

The fall front desk can be considered the cousin of the Secretary desk. Both have a main working surface or desktop which does double duty as a cover to seal up papers and other items located in small shelves or small drawers placed one on top of the other in front of the user...

, it can be closed up without disturbing too much the paperwork and various documents and implements left on the main desktop surface.