Images(11)

Desk and bookcase

Date1750-1775

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Norfolk (probably) or Williamsburg

MediumMahogany and yellow pine

DimensionsOH: 81 1/2"; OW: 32 1/4"; D (closed): 20"; D (open): 31 1/4"

Credit LineGift of William Allen Harrison VI

Object number2018-274

DescriptionAppearance: Desk and bookcase in two parts. Desk: slant front desk with four graduated thumbnail molded inset drawers each originally with two bail and rosette brass drawer pulls, top drawer flanked by full height lopers with molded ends; ogee base molding over shaped straight bracket feet; interior of desk has a central prospect compartment (door missing) flanked on each side by three valence-less pigeon holes over one long drawer, all over three drawers of unequal length, the longest drawer in the center (all interior drawers missing); double bead along front edges of prospect and shelf supporting prospect and drawers flaking it; desk fall board comprised of a single board with mitered battens ends; waist molding (replaced)attached to top of desk. Bookcase: Two flat paneled doors (replaced and reused wood – originally single fielded paneled door) open to reveal interior with integral ledger strips for 10 shelf slots and three moveable shelves (replaced); surmounted by a solid molded pitch pediment.

Construction:
Desk: the top and bottom are half-blind dovetailed to the sides. The fixed writing surface and drawer blades/dust boards are set in dados in the sides. Mahogany strips are face nailed to the leading edge of the sides to cover the dados, which run front to back. Drawer blades/dust boards are 11 ½’ deep including the very thin mahogany blade at the front edge. Vertical dividers are tenoned into the underside of the writing surface and top of the uppermost drawer blade. The molded end on the proper right (PR) loper is original and is face nailed to the loper. The proper left (PL) loper end is a replacement. A peg inserted in the side of the loper acts as a stop when it hits the vertical divider (the PR peg is missing). Loper guides are glued and nailed to the top of the dust board immediately behind the dividers.

Mitered batten ends are tongue and groove joined to the fall board. The front and side edges of the upper surface of the fall board are rabbeted with mitered moldings nailed into the rabbets which overlap the case sides and top (these rabbets and moldings are not original). The fall board is joined to the fixed writing surface with inset iron butt hinges (replaced). A full width double beaded shelf supporting the prospect, upper two drawers and pigeon holes is set in dados in the case sides. The remaining shelves and dividers of the desk interior are set in dados in the fixed writing surface, case sides, top and each other. Rectangular stop blocks for the interior draws are glued to the upper surface of the drawer shelves at the back.

Modern stop blocks for the lopers and three of the four case drawers are glued to both sides near the back at the same location where evidence indicates early rectangular stop blocks. Modern stops for the uppermost drawer are glued to the underside of the fixed writing shelf.

The back assembly is comprised of an upper and lower board, each chamfered to be held in upper and lower grooves of a 3” wide center board. The lower board is chamfered on the back side, the upper board on the interior side (while this seems odd, oxidation indicates the boards have long been positioned this way). The back is nailed into rabbets in the sides and to the back edge of the top and bottom.

The underside of the case bottom is supported on each corner with a vertical block flanked by two rectangular blocks. (The PR rear vertical block, as well as all rear and one PR front rectangular block may be original.) Mitered bracket front feet and side facing rear feet (one modern) are glued to the blocks as are rear facing diagonal cut foot brackets, which are additionally glued to the inside of the side facing bracket feet, underside of the case bottom and to a rectangular block that is in turn glued to a rectangular foot support block.

The quarter round mitered waist molding (replaced) is nailed to the front and side edges of the upper surface of the desk top and butt joins the bookcase, which it helps hold in place. The ogee base molding is nailed to the upper surface of the bracket feet.

Interior desk drawers are all dovetail constructed modern replacements (2019). Case drawers are of dovetail construction with bottoms nailed into rabbets in the fronts and sides and to the under edge of the bottoms, where drawer runners are glued which cover the nail heads. Fronts are mahogany, sides and backs are yellow pine.

Case sides, fallboard, bracket feet, lopers, loper dividers and moldings are mahogany. Fixed writing surface and desk interior shelves and dividers are mahogany backed with yellow pine. Desk top and drawer blades are yellow pine faced with mahogany. Bottom, rear facing bracket feet and original secondary woods are yellow pine.

On the bookcase, the top and bottom are half-blind dovetailed to the sides. The case sides extend ¾” forward for 3”down from the top. The top rail fits between the extended portions of the case sides, in rabbets, and is nailed to the top from the top and to the sides from the sides. A single bead mahogany strip is nailed to the underside of the front edge of the rail. A mitered, shaped mahogany molding is nailed to the front of the rail and continues on the sides to the back. The front edges of the sides are rabbeted on their inside edges. The sides are dadoed on the inside to provide ten positions for movable shelves. These integral ledger strips have a molded front edge extending to the top behind the front rail. The two existing shelves, both white pine, are not original.

A ½”x ¾” full width mahogany rail is nailed to the front edge of the bottom, and below it a 3/8”x 11/16” tulip poplar lath, also nailed to the edge of the bottom. (This construction has been altered.)

The original one piece panel door was joined to the edge of the PR side. The door consisted of one raised panel set in dados in the stiles and rails which had molded interior edges. Elements of that door were later used to create two doors with the panels reversed to create flat panel doors. Stiles and rails of the original door, along with additional material, were utilized for the reconfigured doors. The rails of the raised panel doors are through tenoned and pegged to the stiles. The panels are set in dados. Stiles and rails are molded on the inside front facing edges. The doors are joined to the edge of the sides with brass inset butt hinges.

The front edge of the top is faced with a mitered molding backed by triangular glue blocks extending around the sides flush with the top and is nailed to it. Immediately behind the corner molding a vertical triangular pediment board is nailed to the top and further supported by three 6” rectangular chamfered blocks glued (two now nailed) along the back to the pediment board and the case top. An identical molding nailed to the upper front facing edge of the triangular pediment board is miter joined to it and to a mitered flat board with an ogee edge that is nailed to the upper surface of the triangular molding and continues along the sides where it is nailed to the case top.

The two horizontal boards of the back are chamfered on the back side to fit in grooves in a 4” wide board between them. The boards are nailed into rabbets in the sides to the edges of the top and bottom.

The bookcase top, bottom and secondary woods are yellow pine, all other woods are mahogany. Shelves are replacements.
Label TextThis diminutive desk and bookcase descended in the Harrison family through multiple generations of William Allen Harrisons. The first William Allen Harrison (1775 or 1778-1824) of Maycox Plantation, Prince George Co, VA was the son of Carter Bassett Harrison (1756-1808) of Maycox Plantation and grandson of Declaration of Independence signer Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791) of Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, VA. While it is not known who owned the desk originally, Benjamin Harrison did own three desks when he died in 1791 and it is possible that he and his wife were the original owners. Since all members of the family including the wives of the successive early generations were from families along the James River, the desk was likely made locally. While Williamsburg is a strong possibility given the proximity of that city to Berkeley and Maycox Plantations, Norfolk seems like it may be a stronger possibility given the direct water route up the James River to those homes. Norfolk had a large cabinetmaking community in the 18th century but much of their work was lost when the city burned during the Revolution. The rural counties in the Southside (south of the James River) are also a possible source for this desk and bookcase. All of the cabinetmaking communities of these mid-18th century cities and counties were filled with British immigrants and those trained by the former. The resulting furniture was similar both in design and construction to British prototypes. The form of this piece follows other British inspired Tidewater neat and plain desks with its straight bracket feet, three-quarter depth dust boards, and desk interior arrangement with valence-less pigeon holes. The evidence for bookcase’s original single panel door (now replaced) also follows British prototypes for diminutive desk and bookcases including one purchased by the Drayton family for Drayton Hall outside Charleston, South Carolina. The use of the solid pitch-pediment rather than a broken pitch or scrolled pediment is quite unusual for a Tidewater piece. British architect Batty Langley (1756) and cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale (1752) designed bookcases and library bookcases with solid pitch pediments over all or a portion of the bookcase. These designs may have provided the Virginia artisan with a suggestion of how he could treat the pediment on this desk and bookcase. Another possible source for the pitch pediment may have been the only other Virginian piece of furniture with a solid pitch pediment: The Speaker’s Chair (L1933-504) from the Virginia House of Burgesses made in Williamsburg by Peter Scott around 1735. The Harrison desk and bookcase is an important example of an unusual mid-18th century Tidewater desk and bookcase. As the sole example of a Tidewater Virginia bookcase with a single panel door and the solid pitch pediment, this unusually small desk and bookcase is an important piece in the study of Virginia furniture.
Inscribed"WAH" in pencil on top of desk section.
ProvenanceDescended in the Harrison family to donor. Known line of descent: William Allen Harrison III (1849-1920) to son William Allen Harrison IV (1887-c.1953) to son William Allen Harrison V (1914-1980) [remained in Eclipse Village, Crittenden, Nansemond Co, VA with Robert Carter Harrison (1894-1981) and wife Meta Hutcheson Harrison (1899-1984) in trust for nephew WAH V; Great-Aunt Meta Harrison gave to WAH VI] to son William Allen Harrison VI (b. 1942). Possible Line of descent: Benjamin Harrison V (1726-1791) and Elizabeth Bassett Harrison (1730-1792) of Berkeley Plantation and to son Carter Bassett Harrison (1756-1808) and Mary Howell Allen (1762-1804) of Maycox Plantation, Prince George Co., VA to son William Allen Harrison I (1775-1824) and 1. Theresa Ann Coupland Harrison (1788-1814) and 2. Martha Ann Cocke Harrison (1798-1823) of Maycox Plantation to son William Allen Harrison II (1820-1892) and Mary Thornton Stockdell Harrison (1821-1893) of Maycox Plantation to son William Allen Harrison III (1849-1920) and Lelia Sweeney Harrison (b. 1863) of Eclipse Village, Nansemond Co, VA.