History laid bare as mansion staff make surprising find

Staff at Temple Newsam made a cheeky discovery when they found a collection of nude postcards stashed in the secret section of an antique desk.

During a spot or routine upkeep, staff at the 500 year-old mansion were working on the vintage piece of furniture located in one of the house’s back rooms.

Realising that one of the books in the desk was actually a craftily concealed compartment, they carefully removed it to explore what treasures it might contain.

Inside they were surprised to find a quite extensive collection of French postcards depicting a series of nude portraits which are thought to date from the early 20^th century.

Maya Harrison, principal keeper at Temple Newsam, said:

“This is definitely one of the more unusual finds that the team at the house have made and not something we’d normally expect to discover but it certainly did give us all a laugh.

“Even though the desk has been at the house for a very long time, we’d never realised that the books were actually secret compartments before. It was really exciting to think what might be inside although we’d never have guessed in a million years what they actually contained.

“Of course we can only speculate who might have hidden the postcards and why but it does go to show that most objects in a museum have a story to tell and that history is full of surprises.”