COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.15.21.2
AMICA Library Year:
2000
Object Type:
Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
Creator Nationality:
North American; American
Creator Name-CRT:
American
Title:
Desk and bookcase
Title Type:
Object name
View:
Full View
Creation Date:
1760-1790
Creation Start Date:
1760
Creation End Date:
1790
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany, chestnut, white pine, yellow pine, tulip poplar
Classification Term:
Furniture
Dimensions:
99 1/8 x 44 1/8 x 25 3/4 in. (251.8 x 112.1 x 65.4 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
15.21.2
Credit Line:
Rogers Fund, 1915
Context:
The most famous pieces of furniture made by the leading cabinetmaking families of Newport, the Townsends and the Goddards, are the desks and bookcases with block fronts and six or nine shells. On these, the tripartite division of the blocked drawer fronts, terminating in large shells on the fall front, is continued upward on the bookcase unit in three hinged doors covering an array of cubbyholes. These monumental work stations were also symbols of their owners' business achievements. Thus, for example, each of the four Brown brothers, the leading merchants in late-eighteenth-century Providence, Rhode Island, had one.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.ad15.21.2.R.tif
