Lot Essay
With its blocked front, large ball and claw feet and shaped drop pendant this desk is among the boldest expression of cabinetmaking in Boston during the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Such desks were a status symbol so important to Boston's merchant class, as the blocking served no functional purpose but rather was a decoration. According to period ledgers the blocking could cost up to three times more than a plain front desk (Lovell, Boston Furniture of the Eighteenth Century, (Boston, 1974)p. 80).
While outlying areas also employed this technique, the construction of the interior, with its two tiers, is associated with Boston. For a closely related example see Sack, American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Vol. 2, no. 735, p. 301. Another similar example is in the no. 1930.2506 and is illustrated and discussed in Gerald W.R. Ward, American Case Furniture in the Mabel Brady Garven Collections at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut, 1988) p. 303-305, no. 158.
This piece is branded I.S.,mark used by Israel Sack between 1929 and 1931.
While outlying areas also employed this technique, the construction of the interior, with its two tiers, is associated with Boston. For a closely related example see Sack, American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, Vol. 2, no. 735, p. 301. Another similar example is in the no. 1930.2506 and is illustrated and discussed in Gerald W.R. Ward, American Case Furniture in the Mabel Brady Garven Collections at Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut, 1988) p. 303-305, no. 158.
This piece is branded I.S.,mark used by Israel Sack between 1929 and 1931.