Secretary or cylinder desk and bookcase

DateCa. 1800

Attributed to Andre Joseph Villard (1749-1819)

OriginAmerica, District of Columbia, Washington

MediumBlack walnut, cherry, yellow pine, and tulip poplar with holly, satinwood, harewood (European Sycamore), rosewood or sabicu, and lightwood veneers.

DimensionsOH: 73"; OW: 35 1/4"; OD: 19 5/8"

Credit LineMuseum purchase and partial gift of Mrs. Susan Aller

Object number2001-3

DescriptionAppearance: Secretary or cylinder desk and bookcase in three parts: an upper case with bookcase, a middle case with desk and a lower case with long drawers. Upper Case has a narrow string-inlaid cove cornice above two flat-paneled doors each inlaid with a broad band of dark and light woods around the panel in a geometric design. The doors are flanked on either side by pilasters with inlaid flutes. They open to reveal a bookcase with two removable shelves. The inside door panels are covered with a woodblock wallpaper in a basket weave design. On top of the desk (middle case) is a central tier of three veneered and geometrically inlaid drawers and below this, a cylinder top inlaid with a complex geometric design. Desk interior has four valanced pigeon holes above two drawers on either side of two tiers of two center drawers. Raising the cylinder top reveals a sliding writing frame with a center writing surface flanked by two recessed cock-beaded wells. The rectangular lower case is fitted with three geometrically inlaid small drawers flanked on either side by oval reserves in a berry, vine, and floral design above three long drawers with string inlay in a geometric pattern. The long drawers are flanked by fluted columns and the entire piece rests on tapered square legs with spade feet. String inlay on the book (upper) case corners are mitered while on the lower case they are butt joined. Drawers and roll top inlay has a mixture of mitered and butt joints.

Construction: Secretary and bookcase in four sections. Top section, bookcase, composed of four corner posts. Backboards and side boards are horizontally grained and joined to corner posts with tongue and groove joints (backboards tongue; sideboards groove). They are nailed at the top and bottom to the top and bottom boards of the bookcase. Front of bookcase has a top rail joined to corner posts with a tongue and groove joint. A cornice and base molding are nailed around the front and sides of the bookcase covering any evidence of the sides and front top rail being nailed to the bookcase top and bottom boards. Two flat paneled doors are hinged to the front corner posts. The doors have standard mortise and tenon joined rails and stiles and are backed by wallpaper. The inside corners of the corner posts have notches at equal distances their entire height to receive loose shelf supports. The movable shelves have notches in each corner to fit around the corner posts. The interior of the bookcase has a red wash. The bookcase is screwed through its bottom board to the section below.

Below the bookcase section is a small section with three drawers. The backboards are dovetailed to the sides. It is unclear how the top and bottom are attached to the sides. The full depth drawer dividers are mortised and tenoned into the top and bottom boards.

The drawers are of standard dovetailed construction. The bottom boards have rabbets along the front and sides and are slid into dadoes in the drawer front and sides. Small rectangular glue blocks sit within the rabbets reinforcing these joints. The drawer bottom is nailed to the underside of the drawer back. Rectangular drawer stops are glued to the back of the drawer back. This construction is consistent for all small drawers in the piece. The large drawers are done similarly but now have applied drawer runners along the bottom edges of the sides.

Cylinder secretary section: the backboards are dovetailed to the sides. Since this is a complicated section and as the piece is not currently in its component parts, I am not going to go into the construction here. The pigeon hole valances have a centered chamfered rectangular glue block glued behind them. The pigeon holes have a red wash on their interior sections.

Lower case: the backboards and sides are joined to the four corner posts with tongue and groove joints. The backboards are nailed at the top and bottom to the top board and frame and panel bottom board. Lower side rails, probably mortised and tenoned to the legs, support the sides. There is a medial batten under the top board that is tenoned into the backboard and the top drawer divider. Drawer blades are tenoned into the front corner posts. Drawer supports are nailed to the case sides with drawer guides glued on top, except for the interior drawer supports for the small drawers that are tenoned into the back of the drawer blade and into the case backboards. The bottom board is formed by a two paneled mortise and tenon frame that includes the bottom drawer blade as the front rail the frame. The backboards are nailed into the rear rail of the frame.
ProvenancePreviously owned by Mrs. F. B. Crowninsheild. Purchased by her in New Orleans, LA in 1931. Sold to Susan and Robert Aller by Christine Vining, Marlbehead, MA c.1984.

Exhibition(s)