COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
Record
AMICA ID:
MMA_.69.203
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:
Rear View
Creation Date:
ca. 1811
Creation Start Date:
1809
Creation End Date:
1813
Materials and Techniques:
Mahogany, satinwood, maple, eglomise panels, cedar
Classification Term:
Furniture
Dimensions:
91 x 72 x 19 1/8 in. (231.1 x 182.9 x 48.6 cm)
AMICA Contributor:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location:
New York, New York, USA
ID Number:
69.203
Credit Line:
Gift of Mrs. Russell Sage and various other donors, by exchange, 1969
Context:
This H-shaped desk and bookcase may be the most unusual example of high-style furniture produced in the Federal period. Its design was inspired by the 'Sister's Cylinder Bookcase,' plate 38 in Thomas Sheraton's 'Cabinet Dictionary' (London, 1803), but the maker substituted a rectangular fall-front desk between the two pedestals for Sheraton's cylindrical one. The decorative details are characteristic of fine Baltimore furniture. The double-line inlay spiraling down the turned legs can be found on at least one other piece of Baltimore furniture. The inscription refers to the date when Roswell Lyman Colt married Margaret Oliver, one of the four daughters of Robert Oliver, a millionaire merchant of Baltimore.
Related Image Identifier Link:
MMA_.ad69.203.AV1.R.tif
