HAYNES, SPENCER AND COMPANY, RICHMOND, INDIANA, CIRCA 1885

With sawtooth exterior detailing and lacking an upper gallery, this desk illustrates elements of Wooton cabinet secretaries in both the "Queen Anne" and "Plain" patterns, which were developed by the Wooton Desk Manufactury in the early to mid-1880s. This desk is distinguished by bearing the signature of one of its makers, Zuinglious ("Zue") Jackson (1845-1911), a cabinetmaker in the Haynes, Spencer and Company manufactory in Richmond, Indiana. The company was incorporated in 1878 and focused upon the production of Wooton patent desks until it was disbanded in 1894. Jackson identified his trade as a "desk trimmer" and probably applied the desk's hardware and wooden trim. His known signatures on such desks date from 1883 to 1888, and the March 5, 1885 date seen on this example indicates it was near completion at this time (see Susan J. Dickey, "The Men Who Made Wooton Patent Desks," Wooton Patent Desks (Indianapolis, 1983), pp. 81-88).