Images(6)

Desk and bookcase

Date1760-1775

Possibly by Joshua Moss (1744-1828)

Possibly by Henry Moss (1720-1782)

Possibly by John Moss (1755-1812)

OriginAmerica, Virginia, Sussex County

MediumBlack walnut, yellow pine, and oak

DimensionsOH: 87 1/16"; OW: 40 1/4”, OD (closed): 21 5/8"; OD (open): 33 7/8"

Credit LineBequest of Patrick H. Booth, Jr.

Object number2011-17,A

DescriptionAppearance: Slant front desk with graduated, inset, scratch beaded drawers, each with two bail and rosette brasss drawer pulls (replaced) and a central brass inset escutcheon; full length top drawer is over two half length drawers, over two full length drawers; top drawer flanked by full height loper with brass knob; base molding over ogee bracket feet; interior of desk has a central prospect door inlaid around perimeter with lightwood banding with diamond carved corner motifs and inlaid bone keystone; prospect door carved with a concave shell and pendant bellflower flanked by bone inlaid flowers and steps terminating in projecting wood volutes; prospect door is surrounded on the sides and top by a pierced carved rococo scroll pattern; flanking prospect on either side are three pigeon holes with simply shaped dividers over two tiers of two long drawer and two short drawers, all of which are shaped creating an outcurving projection of the desk interior.

Construction: The top and sides of the desk are miter joined with hidden dovetails. The joint is strengthened with coved blocks glued into both interior corners. The backboard consists of two pine boards joined with glue and nailed into rabbets in the sides and top, and butt joined and nailed to the bottom from the back. The sides are dovetailed to the bottom. Walnut trim (1/4" x ¾") is glued to the facing edges of the two-board sides. The drawer divider between the front double drawers is through tenoned into the dust boards above and below.

The two board walnut fixed writing surface extends underneath the writing interior assembly to the backboard and is joined to the sides with sliding half-dovetails backed by dados. The hinged writing surface is comprised of a single board with two mitered batten ends. Its hinges are replacements; the lock appears to be original.

Pigeon-hole dividers are set in dados in the case top, writing surface, case sides, prospect sides and each other, with pigeon-hole dividers miter-joined. Drawer stops for the interior drawers are glued behind the drawers to the case back. Three drawer knobs are original, one an early replacement.

The lopers, which rest on the top drawer blade, are held in place by drawer dividers tenoned into the underside of the desk top and the dust board below. Loper drawer guides are butt joined and glued behind the drawer dividers and nailed from the bottom to the dust board. Each loper has a dowel stop.

Below the writing surface, 7/8" full depth yellow pine dust boards faced with 5/8" walnut are, like the writing surface, joined to the sides with sliding half-dovetails backed by dados. Stop blocks for the large drawers are glued to the sides at the back, except for the top drawers where they are glued to the underside of the writing surface. Drawer locks are original, but brasses have been replaced. The underside of the writing surface and drawer blades are notched at the center to receive the locks.

Large drawers are of standard dovetail construction with horizontally grained bottoms nailed into rabbets in the front and sides and to the lower edges of the backs. Lath drawer runners are nailed to the bottom edges of the drawer sides and matching lath nailed to the bottom immediately behind the drawer front. Interior drawers are of standard dovetail construction with front to back grained bottoms glued into rabbets in the front, back and sides.

Two butt-joined short boards are glued to the bottom in each corner flush with the bottom edge of the base molding, which is nailed to them. The case is supported by vertical triangular glue blocks in each corner flanked by two horizontal glue blocks. Ogee bracket foot trim is nailed to the foot assembly.
Label TextThis desk, with its original carved interior, is quite unusual for Eastern Virginia. While Neat and Plain furniture predominated in the Tidewater region and the Southside, the maker of this desk chose to incorporate an elaborate pierced, carved frieze around his prospect door along with the unusually carved door itself. The frieze was adapted from a design for iron fenders published in London begining in 1760 in the furntiure design book "Genteel Household Furniture in the Present Taste." Other 18th century Williamsburg cabinetmakers also adapted designs for friezes from this volume (see Masonic chair L1991-5, china tables 1980-95 and 1991-431) and at least one Norfolk cabinetmaker incorporated a desk interior design from the book (1978-9). The carved shell on the prospect door is an unusual treatment for a shell in that location with its stepped outline echoing a shell design on p. 48 of William Pain's 1769 architectural design book "The Builder's Companion and Workman's General Assistant." Other early 18th century architectural design books also had related stepped shells and carved bellflowers. The inlaid bone flowers and projecting scrolls are even more unusual with no identifiable direct prototype.

The construction of this desk closely matches that of a desk 1998-13 inscribed with the name of Alfred Moss (1770-1834), a Sussex County cabinetmaker. Since Alfred was working in the 1790s it is unlikely that he made desk 2011-17 which is stylistically older with its undulating and carved interior. Indeed there are slight construction differences between the two desks suggesting a different, more proficient and finer, hand for 2011-17. Alfred's father Joshua Moss (1744-1828), a master builder in Surry/Sussex County, his grandfather Henry Moss (1720-1782), a carpenter, and cousins Thomas Moss (1725-1806), Ephraim Moss (1746-c.1789), and John Moss (1755-1812), all cabinetmakers or carpenters, all could have trained Alfred. One suspects Alfred would have been trained by his father Joshua, but his cousin John's 1812 inventory lists two desks, one finished and one unfinished indicating his ability in that form. Hopefully further research will reveal the maker of this desk.
ProvenanceThis desk and bookcase was the first antique purchased by the donor's mother, Caroline D. Barden Booth of Petersburg, Virginia.