Desk and bookcase

Date1774-1796

Attributed to Johannes Krause (1742-1807)

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Winston-Salem

MediumBlack walnut, tulip poplar, cherry, yellow pine, and cypress

DimensionsOH: 97 1/4"; OW: 51 3/4"; OD: 26"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number2004-3

DescriptionUPPER CASE: Bookcase with ogee molded pediment; two paneled doors that conform to shape of pediment attached to sides with original butt hinges; original brass keyhole escutcheons, thumb locks, and iron lock on doors; three fixed shelves, top two slid into dadoes in case side from rear, lowest shelf has been raised about 1.5" and is supported by thin strips nailed to the case sides, dado from previous position is visible still filled with ends of shelf from shelf being sawed off while still in dado; walnut vertical backboards pegged to case and to back of shelves; mid molding attached to upper case.

LOWER CASE: Slant front desk above four graduated drawers (pulls and escutcheons replaced) with thumb nail moldings on edges; top drawer flanked by full height lopers; projecting mid molding attached to sides at top edge of case and down angle of slant front; ogee bracket feet; front feet have large vertical quarter round yellow pine glue blocks that have been hollowed out for modern castors; rear feet have replaced large yellow pine rectangular blocks with modern castors; vertical half lapped backboards pegged to case; walnut drawer blades backed by walnut drawer supports slid into dadoes in case sides from rear; tulip poplar guide for lopers attached to top of top drawer support; vertical wooden locking mechanism in dado in case sides with four square blocks that slip into notches in top of drawer sides to lock, raise to height of drawer blade to unlock; mechanism activated from inside desk;

DRAWERS: tulip poplar side to side bottom boards pegged to bottom of tulip poplar drawer sides and back, slid into dado in drawer front, runners (some replaced) glued to bottom at sides.

DESK INTERIOR: divided into three sections, outer two sections are stepped banks of 4 drawers; middle section bank of 16 small drawers in a removable dovetailed box above space for storing ledger; all drawers have cherry knobs, cherry drawer sides and back, cypress drawer bottoms glued to bottom of sides and back and dado in drawer front.
Label TextMoravian furniture of the late 18th century was often executed in the baroque style long after it had faded from popularity elsewhere. Many of the artisans dispatched by the church to the Carolina Backcountry were trained in northern Europe when the baroque was all the rage, but relative isolation in their new land kept them from adopting newer fashions until more recently trained artisans arrived.

This desk and bookcase in the baroque taste appears to be a product of the 1750s, but was actually fabricated during or after the American Revolution. Its maker, Johannes Krause, trained in Germany during the 1750s before immigrating to America with other Moravians. He became master of the Salem Single Brothers’ Joinery in 1776 and continued there for 20 years, making solid, well-built, overtly Germanic furniture for local consumption.
ProvenanceThis desk and bookcase was purchased by the vendors at a flee market in Atlanta, GA.

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