Desk and bookcase
Details
Description
Chippendale-style, blockfront desk-and-bookcase.
The upper case has a molded, broken-scroll pediment with corkscrew and compressed-urn finials: two at the front corners atop square plinths and one at center atop a swelled plinth. The pediment extends to the case back. The case back consists of five lap-joined horizontal boards fastened by rose head nails to rabbets in the case sides. The case sides have bail pull handles. Arch-paneled and mirrored doors at the case front open to reveal pigeon holes and shelves. On the right side of the left door and left side of the right door are shaped brass escutcheons with keyholes. There is beading around the arched tops and flat bottom of the doors.
Opening the mirrored doors reveals two concave, inlaid fans of light and dark wood behind the arched portion of the doors. Immediately beneath the fans, and conforming to their concavities, is a row of eight pigeonholes with double-ogee valances and ogee-carved dividers. A central, square compartment of two adjustable shelves is flanked on each side by a column of four pigeonholes with ogee-valances. Below is a row of four drawers with knobs. Two sliding candlestands extend from beneath the center of each door. Each candlestand is fitted with a single brass knob.
The lower case consists of a slant-front desk surmounting four full-width drawers. The case sides are two-board, dovetailed to the top, and to the two-board bottom. Each case side has a single shaped escutcheon with bail pull. The case back consists of three horizontal lap-joined boards attached to a rabbet in the sides with nails. The hinged slant-front lid is fitted with a shaped escutcheon and lock. The interior of the desk has a central prospect section consisting of a valanced pencil drawer surmounting a wide pigeonhole. Below the pigeonhole are two stacked drawers with concave drawer fronts each fitted with a single brass knob. The fronts of the concave drawers are reinforced on the inside with a chamfered rectangular block. The prospect section, held by a wooden spring lock in the top, slides forward to reveal four, small, secret drawers between the back of the prospect and the case's backboard. Hidden document drawers are accessible from behind the prospect section. Fluted pilasters flank the prospect unit. The left and right sides of the desk interior are each fitted three valanced pigeonholes surmounting two rows of two drawers. The drawer units are each shaped in a broken cyma curve. The inside of the drawer fronts conform to the outside shape, and the drawer sides, which are attached to the back with a single, large dovetail, and back are rounded on the upper edge. The drawer bottoms are set into a rabbet on four sides. Each drawer has a single brass knob. Beneath the desk surface are four graduated, full-width drawers with arch-blocked fronts: two convex sections flanking a concave center section. Lopers to support the slant-front lid flank the uppermost drawer. Dividing the drawers, double-beaded blades are backed with three-inch pine boards. The top and second blades are joined to the case sides with exposed dovetails, and the third blade has a blind dovetail. The drawer fronts are made from solid wood. Each is fitted with a central shaped escutcheon and two bail pulls with shaped back plates. The drawer backs are flat on top with a slight chamfer on the outer edge. The drawer bottoms are chamfered on the front only and the bottom boards are oriented with the grain running front to back. Drawer runners are nailed to the sides. Decorative molding is glued and nailed to the bottom board along the lower edges of the case front and sides. The case rests on bracket feet.
The finials were replaced as of 1997. The upper surface of the cornice has been chiseled out to provide space for the plinth blocks on the outer corners. The side finials appear to be later additions. The interior of the bookcase section was replaced in 1962. The silvered glass in the doors and the backing panels are modern. Internal evidence indicates that the mirrored glass replaces clear glazing installed in the 19th century. A nail hole in the center of the scrollboard indicates that the bookcase once had an applied ornament. The fall-front lid has been pieced out on the top and right side. There is a patch on the center rail of the left door, where the lock was broken out. There is an old trapezoidal patch on the lower right side of the lower case. The feet facings have been extended. The underside of the lower case shows ware. The brasses were replaced by John S. Walton before coming to Winterthur. The drawers in the lower case have been lined with a composition wood paper. See Richards and Evans, pg. 433-431 (1997).
The upper case has a molded, broken-scroll pediment with corkscrew and compressed-urn finials: two at the front corners atop square plinths and one at center atop a swelled plinth. The pediment extends to the case back. The case back consists of five lap-joined horizontal boards fastened by rose head nails to rabbets in the case sides. The case sides have bail pull handles. Arch-paneled and mirrored doors at the case front open to reveal pigeon holes and shelves. On the right side of the left door and left side of the right door are shaped brass escutcheons with keyholes. There is beading around the arched tops and flat bottom of the doors.
Opening the mirrored doors reveals two concave, inlaid fans of light and dark wood behind the arched portion of the doors. Immediately beneath the fans, and conforming to their concavities, is a row of eight pigeonholes with double-ogee valances and ogee-carved dividers. A central, square compartment of two adjustable shelves is flanked on each side by a column of four pigeonholes with ogee-valances. Below is a row of four drawers with knobs. Two sliding candlestands extend from beneath the center of each door. Each candlestand is fitted with a single brass knob.
The lower case consists of a slant-front desk surmounting four full-width drawers. The case sides are two-board, dovetailed to the top, and to the two-board bottom. Each case side has a single shaped escutcheon with bail pull. The case back consists of three horizontal lap-joined boards attached to a rabbet in the sides with nails. The hinged slant-front lid is fitted with a shaped escutcheon and lock. The interior of the desk has a central prospect section consisting of a valanced pencil drawer surmounting a wide pigeonhole. Below the pigeonhole are two stacked drawers with concave drawer fronts each fitted with a single brass knob. The fronts of the concave drawers are reinforced on the inside with a chamfered rectangular block. The prospect section, held by a wooden spring lock in the top, slides forward to reveal four, small, secret drawers between the back of the prospect and the case's backboard. Hidden document drawers are accessible from behind the prospect section. Fluted pilasters flank the prospect unit. The left and right sides of the desk interior are each fitted three valanced pigeonholes surmounting two rows of two drawers. The drawer units are each shaped in a broken cyma curve. The inside of the drawer fronts conform to the outside shape, and the drawer sides, which are attached to the back with a single, large dovetail, and back are rounded on the upper edge. The drawer bottoms are set into a rabbet on four sides. Each drawer has a single brass knob. Beneath the desk surface are four graduated, full-width drawers with arch-blocked fronts: two convex sections flanking a concave center section. Lopers to support the slant-front lid flank the uppermost drawer. Dividing the drawers, double-beaded blades are backed with three-inch pine boards. The top and second blades are joined to the case sides with exposed dovetails, and the third blade has a blind dovetail. The drawer fronts are made from solid wood. Each is fitted with a central shaped escutcheon and two bail pulls with shaped back plates. The drawer backs are flat on top with a slight chamfer on the outer edge. The drawer bottoms are chamfered on the front only and the bottom boards are oriented with the grain running front to back. Drawer runners are nailed to the sides. Decorative molding is glued and nailed to the bottom board along the lower edges of the case front and sides. The case rests on bracket feet.
The finials were replaced as of 1997. The upper surface of the cornice has been chiseled out to provide space for the plinth blocks on the outer corners. The side finials appear to be later additions. The interior of the bookcase section was replaced in 1962. The silvered glass in the doors and the backing panels are modern. Internal evidence indicates that the mirrored glass replaces clear glazing installed in the 19th century. A nail hole in the center of the scrollboard indicates that the bookcase once had an applied ornament. The fall-front lid has been pieced out on the top and right side. There is a patch on the center rail of the left door, where the lock was broken out. There is an old trapezoidal patch on the lower right side of the lower case. The feet facings have been extended. The underside of the lower case shows ware. The brasses were replaced by John S. Walton before coming to Winterthur. The drawers in the lower case have been lined with a composition wood paper. See Richards and Evans, pg. 433-431 (1997).
Object use
Case furnitureObject type
Desk; BookcaseMaker
Coit, Job, Jr., cabinetmaker, 1717-1745, active about 1738; Coit, Job, Sr., cabinetmaker, 1692-1742, active about 1720-1741Basis of maker
Inscribed by makers.Place of origin
Boston, MassachusettsBasis of origin
Both Coit, Sr. and Coit, Jr. were active in Boston.Date
1738Basis of date
Date of 1738 provided by Winterthur Museum, 1964, based on inscriptions on the piece.Style
ChippendaleMaterials
Black walnut; White pine; Yellow pine; Glass; BrassBasis of materials
The Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library identifies the primary wood as American black walnut and the secondary wood as white and yellow pine as a secondary material based on a microanalysis performed prior to 2005. American black walnut, which constitute The drawer fronts, left panel, and right door were identified as American black walnut. The bottom drawer lining and back, rear and bottom of right drawer behind mirrors, and blade extensions were white or yellow pine.Attributes & techniques
Blockfront; Moldings; Carving; Bail pulls; Hinges; Locks; Knobs; Escutcheons; Keyhole surrounds; Bracket feet; Finials; Inlay; Pediments; TurningMarks, signatures, inscriptions
Inscribed in ink on one side of the right document drawer: [J Coit / 1738].Inscribed on other side of same drawer: [2].
Inscribed in pencil on underside of valance drawer in prospect section: [Job Coit jr / 1738].
According to the Winterthur object record, inscribed on modern paper label inside drawer bottom of top long drawer of the desk section: [For Mary Duncan Fiske. Belonged to great-great-great-aunt Black (Rosanna Duncan) From her came to great / great Esther Duncan (Black) in 1786. From her to grandmother Mary Duncan Wells in 1828. From her to Rosanna Wells Thorndike 1859].
Drawn in pencil on underside of third long drawer is the framing for the mirrored portion of a dressing glass.
Inscribed in ink on left document drawer: [R.T.W. Thorndike Aug 24, 1876 / S.H. Thorndike, March 10, 1883 / M.D. Thorndike, March 1893 / R.D. (Fiske) Sanderson Feb 8th 1927 / 200th Anniversary of / this desk].
Inscribed in chalk on outside back of top long drawer: [XB].
Inscribed in chalk on outside drawer, back of second drawer: [BX].
Inscribed in chalk on outside drawer, back of third drawer: [BX1].
Inscribed in chalk on outside drawer, back of bottom drawer: [BXX].
Dimensions
Height including finials 100.125 in. (254.3 cm), Height of case 95.125 in. (241.6 cm), Height of writing surface 31.375 in. (79.7 cm), Width at feet 39.5 in. (100.3 cm), Width at cornice 39.125 in. (99.4 cm), Width of upper case 35.75 in. (90.8 cm), Width of lower case 37.875 in. (96.2 cm), Depth at feet 24.5 in. (62.2 cm), Depth at cornice 14.25 in. (36.3 cm), Depth of upper case 12.5 in. (31.8 cm), Depth of lower case 22.5 in. (57.2 cm)Associated objects
DAPC_1966-2965 and DAPC_1974-0205History of ownership
Originally commissioned by Daniel Henchman, Thomas Hancock's father-in-law, in 1738. The case was sold to Moses Black sometime before 1810 and descended through the Black family. In 1960, the desk and bookcase was sold at Plaza Art Galleries, New York. In 1962, H. F. du Pont purchased the piece from John S. Walton, Inc., for Winterthur's collection.Bibliography
Article: Brock Jobe, "A Boston Desk-and-Bookcase at the Milwaukee Art Museum," Antiques 140, no. 3 (September 1991): 416, fig. 4.Catalog: Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, et al., New England Furniture at Winterthur: Queen Anne and Chippendale Periods (Wilmington, DE: Winterthur Publications, 1997), 431-434, no. 205.
Article: Paul H. Burroughs, "Two Centuries of Massachusetts Furniture," American Collector 6, no. 8 (September 1937): 5, 10.
Exhibition catalog: Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005), 15, 18, fig. 7.
Article: Alan Miller, "Roman Gusto in New England: An Eighteenth-Century Boston Furniture Designer and His Shop," in American Furniture, ed. Luke Beckerdite (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England for the Chipstone Foundation, 1993): 163-7.
Article: Nancy Goyne Evans, "The Genealogy of a Bookcase Desk," Winterthur Portfolio 9 (1974): 213-222.
Article: Margaretta Markle Lovell, "Boston Blockfront Furniture," in Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century (Boston: The Colonial Society of Massachusetts, 1974): 90-5, fig. 62-4.
Book: Jonathan L. Fairbanks and Elizabeth Bidwell Bates, American Furniture, 1620 to the Present (New York: Richard Marek, 1981), 118.
Online resource: Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Collections, http://museumcollection.winterthur.org/ (accessed May 24, 2018), 1962.0087.
Subject
Desks; BookcasesContext
This is the only piece of furniture known to have been made by Job Coit, Sr., and the earliest known dated example of blockfront style.According to Nancy Goyne Evans's article in Winterthur Portfolio (1974), when Daniel Henchman died, he bequeathed his estate to his daughter and son-in-law, but the house and its furnishings remained with his widow, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth died, the case passed to Thomas Hancock (married to Daniel and Elizabeth's daughter, Lydia). Lydia left her belongings behind during the siege of Boston in 1775 and died in Connecticut in 1776. Although the case was not noted in neither Daniel's, Lydia's, nor Thomas's wills, Evans states that the case likely ended up in John Hancock's possession. When he died, there was a 'desk and bookcase' listed for 2.00. John's widow, Dorothy had little choice but to sell off assets because in his will, John did not allot an income from the estate for her living expenses. Dorothy sold the case at auction sometime between 1793-6, and was purchased by Moses Black, a prosperous Boston merchant. When Moses died in 1810, the court appointed his wife, Esther Duncan Black, to be administer of the estate and an inventory was drawn up, listing the desk and bookcase. Esther never had children, but for a time, her niece, Mary Duncan Wells, lived with her, and so it was to Mary the case was bequeathed upon Esther's passing. Mary's daughter, Rosanna Lamb Wells Thorndike, allegedly pasted the label inside the drawer delineating the descent of the desk through the family, however she was incorrect in saying that her great-great-great Aunt Black (Rosanna Duncan, and first wife of Esther Black) was once an owner of the bookcase. Rather, it was a purchase made by Moses. When Rosanna died in 1916, the case went to her daughter and then to her granddaughter, the last private owner. (See also, Nancy E. Richards and Nancy Goyne Evans, New England Furniture at Winterthur, 431-434, no. 205.)
