拍品专文
If one particular form of furniture is most associated with the bespoke cabinetmaking trade of the Seymour shop in Boston during the early Federal period, it is the tambour desk.
Elegant and restrained, with a high standard of inlay work, the construction techniques of this particular desk have many similarities with labeled John Seymour & Son tambour desks. Two tambour desks labeled by the Seymour shop are closely related to this desk: a tambour desk now in the collection of Winterthur (Montgomery, fig. 184) and, a tambour desk with three drawers in a private collection (Stoneman, pp.48-49).
Distinctive construction characteristics that link this desk with others of the Seymour shop include: finely cut narrow, angled dovetails and finely crafted through tenons; the upper case has a locating block on the bottom that fits into a mating mortise in the top of the lower case to secure the two from shifting--both the block and mortise are precisely cut; cockbeading around the drawers is applied within a routed groove, rather than glued on; distinctive pencil and chalk inscriptions and orientation markings, including chisel numbers on the dividers of the letter drawers; use of a relatively complex locking mechanism on the tambour doors; circular brass pulls on the interior desk drawers; precise ivory urn-shaped escutcheons; a sloped fall-front, rather than flat, concealing an ivory escutcheon.
The meticulous inlay work associated with the Seymour shop is used on this desk. Three mock fluted inlaid pilasters with solid mahogany 'base' and 'cap' mark the ends and center of the tambour doors. The tambour doors, of alternating satinwood and mahogany strips, are used on a labeled desk and are also seen on the other documented examples (Stoneman, pp.48-9; Flanigan, American Furniture in the Kaufman Collection (Washington D.C.: 1986), no.84). The inlay pattern on the edge of the upper case top is very similar to that used on the Proctor family tambour desk. Graduated, pendant husks on the legs consist of three overlapping oval-shaped segments, separated by inlaid disks, and framed by string-inlaid panels with rounded tops. Again, techniques generally associated with the Seymour shop.
Woods not typically identified with Boston cabinetmaking are noted in John Seymour's early work (prior to 1805). Chestnut is often used as a secondary wood; this tambour desk has chestnut drawer liners as well as white pine. The form and dimunitive size of the desk, construction techniques, the attention to detail, and the distinctive 'thermed foot' are illustrative of the fine cabinetmaking skills of the Seymour shop in Boston.
Elegant and restrained, with a high standard of inlay work, the construction techniques of this particular desk have many similarities with labeled John Seymour & Son tambour desks. Two tambour desks labeled by the Seymour shop are closely related to this desk: a tambour desk now in the collection of Winterthur (Montgomery, fig. 184) and, a tambour desk with three drawers in a private collection (Stoneman, pp.48-49).
Distinctive construction characteristics that link this desk with others of the Seymour shop include: finely cut narrow, angled dovetails and finely crafted through tenons; the upper case has a locating block on the bottom that fits into a mating mortise in the top of the lower case to secure the two from shifting--both the block and mortise are precisely cut; cockbeading around the drawers is applied within a routed groove, rather than glued on; distinctive pencil and chalk inscriptions and orientation markings, including chisel numbers on the dividers of the letter drawers; use of a relatively complex locking mechanism on the tambour doors; circular brass pulls on the interior desk drawers; precise ivory urn-shaped escutcheons; a sloped fall-front, rather than flat, concealing an ivory escutcheon.
The meticulous inlay work associated with the Seymour shop is used on this desk. Three mock fluted inlaid pilasters with solid mahogany 'base' and 'cap' mark the ends and center of the tambour doors. The tambour doors, of alternating satinwood and mahogany strips, are used on a labeled desk and are also seen on the other documented examples (Stoneman, pp.48-9; Flanigan, American Furniture in the Kaufman Collection (Washington D.C.: 1986), no.84). The inlay pattern on the edge of the upper case top is very similar to that used on the Proctor family tambour desk. Graduated, pendant husks on the legs consist of three overlapping oval-shaped segments, separated by inlaid disks, and framed by string-inlaid panels with rounded tops. Again, techniques generally associated with the Seymour shop.
Woods not typically identified with Boston cabinetmaking are noted in John Seymour's early work (prior to 1805). Chestnut is often used as a secondary wood; this tambour desk has chestnut drawer liners as well as white pine. The form and dimunitive size of the desk, construction techniques, the attention to detail, and the distinctive 'thermed foot' are illustrative of the fine cabinetmaking skills of the Seymour shop in Boston.