Captains Writing / Reading Box
False Bottom and Secret Compartments
I hadn’t seen too much documentation on Captain’s Boxes or Captain’s Writing Boxes until I ran across Hygra.com. This site out of London buys, sells and explains a multitude of antique boxes.
The one featured here is a Captain’s Writing Box circa 1800. It’s wooden with a lot of structural brass trim, and can be configured in several ways: closed as a trunk, open as an angled writing board, or partially opened to become a reading stand / lectern. While there are compartments for ink wells, etc, the real fun is harder to find. Each of these boxes is unique, and this one comes with hidden pigeon hole compartments and a complete false bottom with complicated opening mechanism.
