Antique 17th-18th Century American Desks
DESKS About 1620-1680
The Pilgrim period: Desks in the sense of specialized, substantial pieces of furniture are virtually unknown, but a portable writing-slope of the kind used since the Middle Ages is commonplace.
A shallow box about 24 inches wide, 20 inches deep and 12 inches high (60 cm by 51 cm by 30 cm), with sloping lid hinged at the top to a fixed ledge.
Oak, pine, walnut or any other available timber, about 1/2 inch/1.75 cm thick.
Early examples nailed, later ones jointed with coarse dovetails at the corners. Lid attached by wrought-iron strap hinges.
Scroll, arcaded or floral patterns carved or incised. Painted flowers and figures.
If not painted, oiled and waxed.
It is often difficult to distinguish rare American examples from relatively plentiful British ones. Too high a price should not be paid for what is claimed as Americana, without convincing proof. Not outrageously expensive unless elaborately decorated and/or with sound provenance.
DESKS About 1680-1760
As the American colonies become more prosperous, more people became literate and in need of better facilities for writing. Desks as pieces of standing furniture begin to appear in the late 17thC.
Simplified baroque giving way, after 1740, to restrained rococo. Types:
I The desk on a stand with ’slant’ (sloped) fall, hinged at its lower edge to provide a writing-surface on its interior surface, instead of the exterior as in the writing-slope. The stand was separate at first, attached from 1720, with turned legs 1680-1720, cabriole from 1720.
2 The fall-front secretary-desk (from 1700) with vertical fall and drawers below; an example made in 1707 by E. Evans is the earliest known signed piece of Philadelphia furniture.
3 The slant-front desk with drawer below that developed in the early 18thC.
4 The slant-front secretary-desk with bookcase above. Pennsylvania produced this type in William and Mary style, with double dome top, 1700-30.
Before 1750, secretary-desks had wooden panels or mirror glass in the doors. Some have been modified by replacing these with clear glass, thus reducing the interest and commercial value.
Portable wrting slope Queen Anne walnut slant-front desk on stand, about 1760.
Oak, maple, walnut, pine, cherry; after 1730, mahogany from San Domingo and Cuba; after 1750, from Honduras. Secondary woods used for drawer-linings and (after 1720) as foundation for veneers pine for oak exteriors, oak for mahogany exteriors.
Mortise-and-tenon joints secured with hardwood pegs (see p. 236) on early work and on later country-made pieces. From the early 18thC, fine dovetails for drawers, most other joints (e.g. mortise-and-tenon) concealed in best quality work. Carcases on bracket feet or dwarf cabriole legs; after 1730, claw-and-ball.
Carving on mahogany items, for example, claw-and-ball feet, reached a high standard.
Early-18thC: Burr walnut, maple veneer; japanning on Boston secretary-cabinets.
Enormous range, and age not always the criterion. Starting relatively low for a plain pine slant-front, rising to dizzy heights for a fine mahogany secretary desk. A good 1750 example may be dearer than a poorly-proportioned one of 1720.
DESKS About 1760-1785
Chippendale period: American makers achieve distinctive character and quality. Some work signed or labelled.
Right, Chippendale-style mahogany desk and bookcase, about 1765-1780.
Many plain slant-front desks, but also block-front types with shell decoration, at their best in Newport, Rhode Island, where the interrelated Townsend and Goddard families dominated production. In Boston, Coggswell made secretary desks with bonnet tops and ‘kettle’ (bombs) bases.
Mahogany, maple. Oak and other secondary woods as drawer-linings. Mahogany was used for lining very small drawers only, until late 19thC.
Drawer-fronts shaped to follow ‘block’ outline; ogee curve to bracket feet.
Concave shell motifs carved out of solid convex shells carved separately and applied to surfaces. Exaggerated shells on New Hampshire versions.
Surfaces varnished, sanded and waxed.
Block front types very expensive. Slant fronts, plain design, much cheaper.
Top, pegged construction; above, fine dovetails in drawer construction.
DESKS About 1785-1810
Federal period: Independence having been gained, the return to normal life fostered a desire for new furniture.
Right, secretary bookcase in mahogany, rosewood and maple, about 1810.
In New England, regional types continued. In New York and Philadelphia, Hepplewhite, Shearer and Sheraton designs favoured straight lines, ovals, circles; splay feet and classical pediments.
Mahogany from Honduras, pale yellow satinwood from West Indies.
heur-du-jour (lady’s desk) on tapered legs, with flat writing surface and superstructure of small cupboards. Seymour of Boston made similar type with the superstructure enclosed by tambour front (flexible shutter constructed with narrow fillets of wood glued to a linen backing, running in grooves).
Husks, urns and swags in marquetry.
Drawer-front lowered to form writing-surface.
Right marquetry decoration, about 1790.
The Philadelphia secretary desk had a writing-section disguised as a drawer, with cupboards above and below. The ‘Salem secretary’ a speciality of Nehemiah Adams has a bookcase above with clear glass doors divided by curved astragals, resting on a base with a pair of cupboards flanking a secretaire drawer over a kneehole. Baltimore produced a bon-
Figured mahogany and satinwood veneers. Polishing with shellac dissolved in spirit (French polish) after 1800.
Wide range and greater quantity offer better choice, but expect to pay for quality and elegance.
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Tags: bookcase, cabriole, Desks, interior surface, mahogany, New England, painted flowers, Price, Queen Anne, strap hinges, West Indies