.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Not only is the subject work a rare form of New York classical furniture, but it is documented by its original bill of sale from Duncan Phyfe. This bill of sale records the sale of a writing table from Phyfe to John E. Haight on April 20th 1832 for $128. John E. Haight (1786-1844) was a successful merchant who in 1831-1832 lived at 154 Greenwich Street, two blocks south of Phyfe's Fulton Street shop. Then, the following year, Haight moved to 129 Hudson Street and likely purchased this secrétaire a abattant to furnish his new home. Haight died childless and after his death, the secrétaire descended in the lateral family lines before being gifted to the current owner's family in 1937.
“One of the boldest and most architectonic furniture forms introduced into America in the first two decades of the nineteenth century was the secrétaire á abattant” (Wendy Cooper, Classical Taste in America: 1800-1840 (New York, 1993), p. 162). The form itself is distinctly French and inspired by plates published in Pierre de la Mésangère's Collection des Meubles et Objets de Goût between 1802 and 1826, including plate 57 from the 1803 version, which highlights the use of large sheets of figured veneers and ormolu capitals and bases on the columns (Peter M. Kenny and Michael K. Brown, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), p. 214). The relatively few surviving New York examples of the form suggest that it had limited appeal and, in fact, was not included in the city's price book for cabinetmaking until the 1834 edition (Kenny and Brown, p. 214). Their tight, compact size made them better suited for a lady's use in the dressing room or parlor as not only a writing desk but also for the display of fashionable busts, clocks or lamps.
“One of the boldest and most architectonic furniture forms introduced into America in the first two decades of the nineteenth century was the secrétaire á abattant” (Wendy Cooper, Classical Taste in America: 1800-1840 (New York, 1993), p. 162). The form itself is distinctly French and inspired by plates published in Pierre de la Mésangère's Collection des Meubles et Objets de Goût between 1802 and 1826, including plate 57 from the 1803 version, which highlights the use of large sheets of figured veneers and ormolu capitals and bases on the columns (Peter M. Kenny and Michael K. Brown, Duncan Phyfe: Master Cabinetmaker in New York (New York, 2011), p. 214). The relatively few surviving New York examples of the form suggest that it had limited appeal and, in fact, was not included in the city's price book for cabinetmaking until the 1834 edition (Kenny and Brown, p. 214). Their tight, compact size made them better suited for a lady's use in the dressing room or parlor as not only a writing desk but also for the display of fashionable busts, clocks or lamps.