The secretaire bookcase has the label 'Bowen, cabinet maker and UPHOLSTERER, Lamas Street, CARMARTHEN' glued inside the first long drawer. The piece is made of pine veneered with mahogany. Its form, consisting of a glazed bookcase above a desk and four drawers, is typical of its period. The top edges of the secretaire and the edges of the drawers are finished with an ebony corner. The secretaire has retained its contemporary handles, which have oval repoussé back-plates with a reclining classical female. This is an important item of furniture because of the rarity of labelled Welsh pieces of the time and because of its near original finish, and high quality of craftsmanship. Little is known of Mr. Bowen except that he was at one time a sergeant in the Carmarthenshire Militia and that he died in 1807.