A Bookcase Secretary

Baltimore, Maryland
Circa 1830

This exceptional Classical bookcase secretary exhibits motifs associated with the best Baltimore classical designs. With rich crotch mahogany veneers and tapered column supports, this piece is adorned by pilasters with pointed reeds, beautifully articulated door tracery featuring foliate ornaments and anthemions, water leaf-carved capitals, and finely carved drawer pulls and paw feet. The drawer escutcheons are embellished with ebony inlays. The overall design of the case is most like examples from the shop of John Needles while the employment of tapering columnar supports and exquisitely carved elements within the door are most closely compared to the work of Anthony H. Jenkins.

Reference: Elder, William Voss, III and Jayne E. Stokes. American Furniture 1680-1880 from the collection of The Baltimore Museum of Art. Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1987.

Mahogany (Secondary: poplar, pine, and cedrela)
Height: 96½” Width: 51¼” Depth: 27”
C378
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