Images(6)

Miniature desk

Date1760-1790

OriginAmerica, Pennsylvania (probably)

MediumWalnut, basswood, yellow pine, and bone

DimensionsOH: 16"; OW: 16; OD (closed): 10"

Credit LineBequest of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph H. Hennage

Object number1991-41

DescriptionAppeareance: Miniature desk with slant front writing surface with molded edges over two small drawers flanked by full height lopers over two long drawers all flanked by fluted quarter columns all over base molding and shaped ogee bracket feet; desk interior composed of a central prospect door with inlaid diamond shaped bone escutcheon flanked on either side by document drawers and two pigeon holes with arched valances over a serpentine front drawer on either end. Drawer fronts veneered in burl walnut. Fall board veneered with burl walnut surrounded by double band of lighter woods and walnut on edges and inlaid with diamond shaped bone escutcheon. Top veneered with two rectangles of burl walnut with similar surround to fall board. Inside the desk, glued behind the prospect door, is a religious print possibly depicting Saint Clare of Montefalco.

Construction:
Construction: Case sides half blind dovetailed to the case top and dovetailed or half blind dovetailed to the case bottom; stile and quarter column glued together and pegged into the front of the case sides, shaped at the top to join to the angle of the case sides; drawer blades and drawer supports in dados in the case sides; the bottom drawer supports are glued and nailed to the top of the bottom board; the bottom rail extends to the bottom board and is butt glued to the bottom board or tenoned into the stiles; the base molding is nailed or pegged to the case bottom rail and sides; ogee bracket feet are miter joined in the front and nailed to the underside of the base molding, the rear bracket of the rear feet are nailed into the bottom board and sit in rabbets in the side ogee brackets; the single backboard is nailed into rabbets in the case side, top, and bottom; the top drawer blade has a three vertical dividers, with one in the center and two on the outside edges of the drawers, tenoned into the top of the first drawer blade and the underside of the fixed writing surface; additional drawer supports are nailed into the sides of the top outer drawer supports; the rear drawer support is lapped onto the nailed drawer supports; a center drawer support is tenoned into the rear of the drawer blade and the front of the rear drawer support; the drawer guides are glued on top of the drawer supports; lopers have a round peg tenoned into the side towards the rear that act as a stop; drawers have standard dovetail construction, the bottoms are nailed to the underside of the drawer back and sides and into a rabbet in the drawer front; the bottom board of the two smaller top drawers extends beyond the rear of the drawer to form a drawer stop; the fall front desk board has a thumbnail molding around the outside edge, a center lock, and is attached with butt hinges; inside the desk; fixed writing surface is in dados in the case sides; a board with a molded edge is probably glued to the top of the fixed writing surface and forms the bottom of the interior shelves and drawers compartment; In the center is a hinged prospect door with butt hinges on the proper left side and a lock in the center top with a diamond shaped inlaid escutcheon; the sides of the prospect section are in dadoes in the case top and the molded bottom board; in the rear there is a single shaped half-depth shelf in dados in the prospect sides; flanking the prospect door are document drawers; the sides of the drawers are nailed in to rabbets in the front and to the sides of the back block and the back block extends beyond the sides to form a drawer stop, the bottom is nailed to the underside of the sides and back, with a center pull; flanking the document drawers are shelves over drawers; the drawers are shaped in the front to match the molding below and have standard dovetail construction, with bottoms nailed to the undersides of the backs and sides, with a center pull; the shelves above are dadoes into the case sides and vertical partitions and the shaped valances are probably attached with glue.
ProvenancePurchased by donor from Joe Kindig, Jr. & Son, York, Pennsylvania in 1982