Desk - Desk

Primary tabs

Islandora advanced search

Item
Desk
CIS Survey ID
CIS-2013-1049
Other Name
Fall-front desk; Slant-front desk
Object Type
Furniture
Date Created
1785 - 1800
Place of Manufacture
United States
Maker
Probably North or South Carolina, or Virginia
Size
44 1/2" x 41 1/4" x 24"
Material
Walnut; yellow pine; unidentified lightwood inlay; brass; iron
Marks/Inscription/Labels
Indecipherable graphite markings on back of drawers in fitted interior.
Accessories/Hardware
Original neoclassical ovular pulls on graduated drawers. Small brass knobs on fall-board supports. Small circular pulls on interior drawers. Original brass lock for fallboard and prospect door.
Inlays/Veneers
String inlay on drawer fronts, fall-board and fall-board supports. Lightwood inlay diamond escutcheons on graduated drawers.
Condition
Overall good condition. Molding strip missing at bottom of skirt. Keyhole escutcheon (probably originally brass) missing from fallboard. Hinges for fallboard have been replaced with fleur-de-lis type hinges. Patch where original hinges likely were.
Media Type
image/jp2
Description
Walnut slant-front desk with a series of four graduated drawers. Drawer blades likely half-blind dovetailed or tenoned into the side of the case (a cap hides construction details). Grooved drawer runners are tenoned into the blades, and screwed into the sides of the case at rear. Sides are two boards each terminating in unusual feet lacking a front facing. A variance in color and a series of holes indicate a molding strip that at one time was applied to skirt. Horizontal backboards are yellow pine, and are nailed into the case sides. Board overlays at top to accommodate a chair rail, and is also capped to hide construction. Dovetailed drawers consisting of a walnut front and yellow pine back and sides, beveled yellow pine bottom, and yellow pine drawer stops nailed to the back. Drawers have original ovular brass pulls, a lightwood inlay diamond escutcheon and string inlay found also on the fall-board and supports. Fall-board supports do not have stops. Fitted interior consists of two rows of drawers side-by-side over three pigeonholes with ogee valances. Drawers have original circular brass pulls. Drawers and pigeonholes flank a central prospect door framed by a double bead. Inside prospect drawer is a large pigeonhole with an ogee valance, actually a hidden document drawer. At bottom is a single drawer, behind which might be another hidden drawer that has lost its original leather pull. Interior drawers have walnut fronts and yellow pine, sides, back and bottom, the latter having a slight bevel. All but drawer inside prospect have drawer stops nailed to the sides.
Physical Location
Gulf Coast (U.S.)
Provenance
As recorded in a taped interview with a relative of the current owner in the fall of 2002, this piece and a small bureau were probably brought to the area around Huntsville, Alabama from North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia by members of the Wright family. See: Chris Lang, “The McCrary Homestead,” The Huntsville Historical Review 36, no. 1 (Winter 2010-Spring 2011): 14-15.
Date Surveyed
2013-07-15
Source
Classical Institute of the South at The Historic New Orleans Collection
Repository
The Historic New Orleans Collection (http://www.hnoc.org)
Disclaimer
The information contained in the Gulf South Decorative and Fine Arts Database was collected in the year referenced under Date Captured". The Classical Institute of the South will update object records with new information to the best of its ability but does not guarantee that data contained within the records is current.
Digital Collection
Gulf South Decorative and Fine Arts Database
Contact Information
Contact the Historic New Orleans Collection for more information about use and reproduction. louisquery@hnoc.org
Credit
Gulf South Decorative and Fine Arts Database, Classical Institute of the South at The Historic New Orleans Collection.
Rights
Physical rights are retained by The Historic New Orleans Collection. Copyright is retained in accordance with US copyright laws. The information and images in the Gulf South Decorative and Fine Arts Database may be used for non-commercial and educational purposes, but they must be accompanied by the “Credit” statement above.
Type of Resource
still image
Type of Resource
three dimensional object
Admin Login

 

Louisiana Digital Library

Contact the Louisiana Digital Library

Permissions/rights/reproduction and information requests:

The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is composed of collections from many different institutions. Permission to publish and acquire images or requests for more information about materials that you find in the LDL should be directed to the institution that contributed the item to the LDL. To find the contact who can help you, find the field called "Contact Information" next to the image of interest to you. The Louisiana Digital Library is a service provider only and has no authority to grant permission to publish or supply high-resolution images.

Technical assistant/site support

The Louisiana Digital Library platform has been developed by LSU Libraries on behalf of the Louisiana Digital Consortium. It runs on the Islandora open-source digital repository software.

LSU Libraries' Technology Initiatives: lsudiglib@lsu.edu.

Thanks for your interest in the Louisiana Digital Library.

About the Louisiana Digital Library (LDL)

The Louisiana Digital Library (LDL) is the front door to Louisiana's digital cultural heritage. Members include public libraries, academic libraries, museums, and archives from arcross the state.

Currently, there are 25 participating institutions in the LDL. Each institution contributes the digital items and the descriptive text for their collections.

  • Calcasieu Parish Public Library
  • Delgado Community College
  • East Baton Rouge Parish Library
  • Law Library of Louisiana
  • Louisiana State Archives
  • Louisiana State Museum
  • Louisiana State University
  • Louisiana State University at Alexandria
  • Louisiana State University at Shreveport
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center New Orleans
  • Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center Shreveport
  • Louisiana Tech University
  • Loyola University New Orleans
  • McNeese State University
  • Nicholls State University
  • Northwestern State University
  • Southern University
  • State Library Of Louisiana
  • The Historic New Orleans Collection
  • Tulane University
  • University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • University of Louisiana at Monroe
  • University of New Orleans
  • Vermilionville Living History Museum & Folklife Park
  • Webster Parish Library

The LDL is built with Islandora, an open source digital library system based on Fedora, Drupal, and Solr.

Information about the Louisiana Digital Consortium can be found here: http://louisianadigitalconsortium.org

 

LDC Board Meetings

LDC Membership Meetings

LDL Advisory Committee Meetings