Images(4)

Secretary and bookcase

Date1800-1815

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Norfolk (probably)

MediumMahogany, satinwood, tulip poplar, white pine, yellow pine, bone or ivory, and glass

DimensionsOH: 97 ¾”; OW: 47 3/8”; OD: 22 7/8”

Credit LineGift of Doris Gwaltney

Object number2016-91

DescriptionAppearance: Secretary and bookcase in three parts; upper case composed of bookcase section and removable (screwed on) cornice; bookcase has two mahogany veneered glazed doors with arched muntins and inset brass escutcheons (proper left escutcheon accesses lock); muntins design incorporates one large pointed arch enclosing two pointed arches over one central flanked by two half pointed arches; bookcase section has molding along front and sides of bottom; bookcase contains three moveable shelves held in place by integral ledger strips; cornice rests on top of bookcase and is screwed in place with pocket screws; dovetailed cornice frame has replaced moldings along front and sides; originally cornice was veneered on original front (now the back) and sides, had a bead molding attached to the underside of the cornice frame (which is now attached to the top of the bookcase) and may have had a projecting center element; lower case has an overhanging mahogany top (possibly replaced) with a cross banded edge on front and sides; case consists of a top rail veneered with vertical segments of burl mahogany creating with the shape of the burl nine small arches in the rail; below rail are three small satinwood veneered, cock-beaded drawers over four graduated mahogany veneered, cock-beaded large drawers, the top one being a secretary drawer; small drawers have replaced brass center knob pulls; large drawers have replaced oval brass drawer pulls and inset brass escutcheons; case has scalloped front and side skirts and French feet; secretary drawer has hinged fall front on quadrant hinges with a replaced green baize inset section spanning both the fixed and fall front writing surface; central prospect door with mahogany veneered astragal arch flanked by document drawers with satinwood fronts over small ledger slot; document drawers open by reaching behind the drawers from inside the prospect section to push document drawers from behind; small satinwood drawer and valance drawer inside prospect cabinet; prospect section flanked on either side by drawers with satinwood fronts: one long drawer over two short drawers over four pigeon holes with scalloped valances; interior drawers have small bone or ivory knob drawer pulls, two on long drawers, one on small drawers; top edges of secretary drawer sides shaped; all small drawers have mahogany drawer sides and a red wash on the tulip poplar drawer bottoms.

Construction: On the upper case, the top and bottom are half-blind dovetailed to the sides. The sides are mahogany, the top, bottom and adjustable shelves are white pine faced with mahogany.

The white pine cornice frame is of dovetail construction with a medial rail through-tenoned to the front and back rails. It is joined to the top with two pocket screws from each side rail. The cornice frame has been rotated 180 degrees from its original position. Remnants of mahogany veneer remain on the back cornice rail that was, in its original position, the front rail. A mitered single bead mahogany molding nailed to the top of the bookcase from the top was originally nailed to the underside of the cornice. Current cornice molding attached to the current front and sides of frame is not original.

The back consists of two two-board vertical tulip poplar panels chamfered on the back to fit into dados in a white pine frame of stiles (including a medial stile) tenoned into rails. The frame is screwed from the back to the case top, bottom and into rabbets in the sides. At the bottom of the case, a weight supporting mitered molding (white pine faced with cove and bead mahogany molding) is nailed to the underside of the sides and bottom.

Inside the case the inside corners of the sides are shaped with an integral bead. Sixteen dados in each side create ledger strips for positioning the three adjustable shelves. There is residue of a red wash on the interior.

The doors are mahogany with rails thru-tenoned into the stiles. The rails and stiles have mitered cross-banded mahogany veneer. A molding glued into a rabbet on the inside stile of the proper left door overlaps the rabbeted proper right door when closed. The moldings on the inside edges of the doors are rabbeted to overlap the stiles and rails. The arched muntins extend ½” deep inside the doors. At the top center, two muntins are half-lapped to each other and tenoned to the top rail. At the lower end, these muntins are shaved to blend into the stiles and joined to them with a small wedge glue block. Each door has three “Y” intersections that are formed with the two arms mitered to match the profile of a single muntin to which they are glued, with a small wedge between them, to a descending muntin. At the other end, the muntins are tenoned into the stiles, bottom rail and other muntins. Each door also has an inverted ”Y” intersection(at the top of an arch) where the two “arms” are mitered and glued and an ascending third muntin is glued to the intersection. The doors are hinged to the sides with three butt hinges each. The door lock (original) is mortised into the back center stile of the proper left door.

On the lower case, the mahogany sides are half-dovetailed at the top to front, medial and back rails. The front rail is comprised of three boards (two tulip poplar over one white pine) making it 2 ¾” thick. The other two rails are white pine. The top is comprised of a frame of four mitered rails with two evenly spaced medial rails, all white pine, butt joined and glued to the ½” two board (butt joined) mahogany top. The assembled top is screwed from the underside to the three case rails. The front and side edges of the top are veneered with cross-banded mahogany. The single board white pine bottom is dadoed into the sides (possibly with sliding dovetails) and reinforced on the underside with a series of glue blocks, one of which has a chamfered edge and may be original. The sides are shaped at the bottom to form side skirts and legs which are glued to vertical blocks that in turn are butt joined to the underside of the bottom and in the front, shaped and butt joined to the shaped front skirt, which is also nailed from above to the bottom. The skirt is veneered with figured mahogany; the front facing edges of the sides are veneered with mahogany.
The drawer blades are dadoed or possibly sliding dovetailed to the sides. Behind them the drawer supports (replaced) are screwed with modern screws into dados in the sides. The vertical drawer separators for the small drawers are double tenoned into the front rail and double through-tenoned into the top drawer blade. Drawer supports for the small drawers are tenoned to the back of the drawer blade and nailed in the back to a rail that is dovetailed to the case sides just inside the backboards. The two outside supports are dadoed to the case sides. The back of the drawer blade and supports for the small drawers are dadoed on the edges to hold half depth dust boards. Drawer stops nailed to the upper surface of the drawer blade. Drawer stops for the secretary drawer are glued at the back corner on either side. All drawer stops are modern.

The front rail, drawer blades and drawer separators are white pine veneered with cross-banded mahogany.

The modern back is comprised of seven lap-joined vertical white pine boards stained with a red wash. They are nailed into rabbets in the sides and to the back edge of the top rear rail and bottom from the back.

The construction of the large and small case drawers is identical. The sides of the drawers are half-blind dovetailed to the fronts and dovetailed to the backs. The bottoms are slightly chamfered on the underside to fit into dados in the sides and front and nailed to the backs from the underside. A series of glue blocks reinforce the joining of the bottoms to the sides. Drawer sides, backs and bottoms are tulip poplar, fronts are white pine with cock-beading and mahogany veneer except for the three small drawers which are veneered with figured satinwood. The backs of the drawer fronts are painted with red wash. Modern stops are glued to the backs of the large drawers.

On the secretary drawer, the white pine top is half-blind dovetailed to the mahogany sides. The sides extend below the bottom as runners. They are supplemented with white pine lath butt joined and glued to them and to the drawer bottom. The two part drawer bottom is rabbeted to fit into dados in the sides and chamfered to fit above the runners. The two board (white pine faced with mahogany) bottom under the pigeon holes and dawers is offset and joined with glue blocks on the underside to the white pine (veneered on the upper side with mahogany) fixed writing surface. This joint is offset to create a lip under the pigeon holes. At the back, the underside of the bottom is relieved 6” from each side for (now missing) wood spring (Quaker) locks. The back is nailed from the back to the top and bottom and into rabbets in the sides.

The fallboard is joined to the sides with compass-hinges and to the fixed writing surface with recessed butt hinges. The back edge of the fallboard is rabbeted as is the front edge of the fixed writing surface (to overlap when the desk is open). The fallboard is of white pine veneered on both surfaces with mahogany and cock-beaded on the edges. On the inner surface the veneer is relieved to accommodate a felt surface that extends into the mahogany veneered fixed desk surface that is also relieved to accommodate it. On the outer face of the fallboard the veneer is cross-banded, mitered at the corners and features two large ovals of figured mahogany veneer.

The drawer blades/supports, drawer and compartment dividers, prospect sides and shelves are dadoed to each other and to the top, bottom and Interior boards that are glued to the sides. The prospect sides are rabbeted to receive the prospect door and have a semi-circular finger holes at the back for accessing the rear of the document drawers to push open. Within the prospect, supports for the upper drawer are set in dados as is the full depth shelf over the lower drawer. The shaped pigeon-hole valances are glued to drawer blades above them with rectangular glue blocks and to the dividers with small mitered glue blocks.

The interior drawers are of dovetail construction, with bottoms rabbeted to fit into dados in the sides and front and nailed from the underside to the edge of the backs. Sides and backs are mahogany; bottoms are tulip poplar with red wash. The upper prospect drawer front is shaped at the bottom to match the valances, and is of mahogany veneered with satinwood as are all other interior drawer fronts and valances.

The sides of the document drawers are rabbeted to fit in dados in the front and are nailed to the edges of the back; the bottoms rest in dados in the front and sides and are nailed to the edge of the back. Fronts are mahogany with figured satinwood veneer and other surfaces are tulip poplar.

The prospect door is mahogany with cross-banded mitered mahogany veneer and a tombstone shaped central veneer of figured mahogany. All of the interior dividers, drawer blades and supports are veneered with cross-grained mahogany.
Label TextThis secretary and bookcase descended in the Purdie family of Smithfield, Virginia. The secretary and bookcase was likely purchased by Dr. John Hyndman Purdie (b.1770) who inherited portraits of his parents, George and Mary Purdie, that descended with the secretary (CWF #2016-89 & 2016-90). The design of the secretary, including the small satinwood drawers, relates to New York examples of the early 19th century and may have been made in Norfolk, Virginia. A number of other pieces of furniture from this period attributed to Norfolk illustrate strong New York influences as well. Norfolk cabinet shops often advertised that they had workmen from northern centers who could make items just as good as things from New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, at a lower price.
ProvenanceDescended in the Purdie family, probably from Dr. John Hyndman Purdie (1770-1845) to son Dr. John Robinson Purdie (1807-1896), to son Thomas Smith Purdie (1854-1923) to son Kenneth Sinclair Purdie (1892-1983), to cousin, donor, Doris Gwaltney.