Images(11)

Desk and bookcase

Date1810-1825

Maker Joshua Livingston Wells (1776 - 1855)

OriginAmerica, New York, Aquebogue

MediumEastern white pine, brass, iron, glass, and paint

DimensionsOH: 83"; OW: 43 1/2"; OD; 29 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1981.2000.1

DescriptionThe upper section is topped by a segmental pediment that encloses a rectangular shelf mounted behind a glazed tympanum that opens. Below, behind a pair of glazed doors, are two scalloped shelves whose front edges are painted to resemble banded inlay. These shelves possibly were used to store and display ceramics, much like shelves in a corner cupboard. The interior is painted salmon-red with black splotches. Wells, who exploited every opportunity for decorative elaboration, mounted a chip-carved a wooden disc in the center of the backboard to conceal a knot hole.
On top and at either side of the lower section are two divided compartments whose carved and painted hinged lids are attached to the sides of the upper section. Each compartment can accommodate two case bottles, but whether liquor was kept there is unknown. Between these compartments is a slanting lid that lifts up and away from the user to reveal a raised surface having numerous abrasions and stains suggesting hard use. At 39 inches above the floor, this surface is significantly higher than the writing height of most desks, suggesting that the user stood. The surface, which is hollow and is also a receptacle for a sliding tray, is flanked by two recessed wells at the front, one of which has a wooden grid mounted over it. The function of this space is unknown.
The interior has a bank of drawers with a fan-carved drawer in place of a prospect, numerous other drawers of various sizes, and a secret compartment. The most surprising feature are two miniature desks having hinged lids and tiny working drawers flanking the interior. These amusing, diminutive desks show that Wells's knew conventional desk design, but his conscious differentiation between them and the design of the lower section further indicates he intended this section to function as more than a desk.
Below are two glazed panels on the sides and one hinged, locking door on the front that enclose an open storage area. The glazed side panels show no evidence of ever having been attached to the case with screws or nails, but are held in place only by friction. Below this open storage area are two large drawers on the front and, on either side, two shallow drawers whose depth is equal to the width of the carved stiles on the front of the case.
CONSTRUCTION: The upper and lower sections are mortised and tenoned. The segmental pediment was formed by bending two thin boards that were secured with nails and a batten. The scalloped shelves are set into slots cut into the sides of the case. Two triangular boards having carved pinwheels conceal the ends of the hand-carved moldings that form the side cornices. A single board forms the backboard on the upper section; two horizontally-mounted backboards and a batten are on the lower section. The fronts and the backs of the drawers in interior of the lower sections are dovetailed or lap-joined to the sides and nails; the remaining drawerfronts in the lower section are dovetailed to the sides. To insure that the front drawers in the lower section do not interfere with the side drawers and run true, thin strips of wood acting as lateral guides were installed.
Label TextThis pretentious case piece descended in the Wells family of Aquebogue, Long Island. Family tradition maintains it was made by the farmer, carriage-builder/decorator, and carpenter, Joshua Livingston Wells. Wells, who was seemingly immune from pattern-book design constraints and accepted cabinetmaking practice, fashioned the piece to satisfy specific functional requirements which are not yet fully understood. The design is based on a desk-and-bookcase, but it is an intriguing--and puzzling--hybrid.
Inscribed"27996" is written in ink on the inside of the lid of the right miniature desk in the interior, and "RB" and "LB" are written in chalk on the ends of of the "right bottom" and "left bottom" side drawers in the lower section.
ProvenanceProbably Joshua Livingston Wells, Aquebogue, N.Y.; probably to his son, Rev. Eurystheus Howell Wells, Aquebogue, N.Y.; probably to his son, Eurystheus Howell Wells, Jr., Aquebogue, N. Y.; to his grandaughter, Helen Wells Hutchinson, Aquebogue, N.Y.; to her granddaughter, Helen Hutchinson Hazard, Aquebogue, N.Y.; unidentified Connecticut antiques dealer; Taylor B. Williams Antiques, Chicago, Ill.; David A. Pottinger Antiques, Topeka, Ind.

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