- A neoclassical secretary desk of the utmost quality. The
beautiful crotch mahogany veneers are contrasted with a desk
interior of bird's-eye maple with rare rosewood crossbanding.
The pigeonholes of the desk retain their original black paint
which provides further contrast. The two doors of the top section
have the desirable feature of being glazed with mirror glass.
The cornice section is in the Egyptian revival style with pyramid-shaped
centers flanked by therms on the corners. The interesting base
resembles that of a pier table. The secretary desk is being attributed
to John Needles, in the circa 1825 period, on the basis of comparison
with the nearly identical desk interior of a labeled desk pictured
in "Classical Maryland, 1815-1845", Maryland Historical
Society, 1993, figure 146. Dimensions are: height 87", width
40" and depth 24". It is in excellent original structural
condition with some minor veneer repairs, replaced brasses but
the desk leather appears to be original. The mirror glasses may
be original but resilvered it is difficult to say. On the bottom
of one of the small drawers in the desk in pencil is written
"Name, maker, Baltimore". It is hard to read the name
which may be "Downs" or "Dawes". We believe
he was an apprentice of Needles but we have not been able to
confirm this at this time.
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- $ 18,500.
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- (additional photos below)
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