Lot Essay
"Of the Gentleman's Secretary...This piece is intended for a gentleman to write at, to keep his own accounts, and serve as a library." So wrote Thomas Sheraton in The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterer's Drawing Book (London 1793).
The year and date of manufacture of this bookcase, August 29, 1816, is written on the underside of one of the interior desk drawers. The cabinetmaker, however, neglected to include his name and place of residence. The reeded pilasters, lion's-head brasses and reeded swelled feet on brass ferrule castors pinpoint the origin of the bookcase to New York. In addition, the carved prince-of-whales plume that embellishes the bookcase doors, although used in other cabinetmaking centers, was embraced by New York craftsmen and patrons, enough so to be included in the 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-Work as plate no. 20. illustration. The "Price for Filling Bookcase Doors; each pair with astragals or bands" was four pounds; "preparing and fixing carved ornaments to doors to be paid according to time."
The name of the cabinetmaker of this bookcase, however, remains ellusive. New York supported numerous craftsmen who worked in the English Regency style, any number of whom were capable of making this form. Duncan Phyfe, for example, owned a copy of the New York Revised Prices, and like his colleagues, was aware of the current designs through this book, other printed sources, or through the furniture of other craftsmen (the personal signed copy of Duncan Phyfe's 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-Work is in the collection of the Winterthur Library: Printed Book and Periodical Collection).
The year and date of manufacture of this bookcase, August 29, 1816, is written on the underside of one of the interior desk drawers. The cabinetmaker, however, neglected to include his name and place of residence. The reeded pilasters, lion's-head brasses and reeded swelled feet on brass ferrule castors pinpoint the origin of the bookcase to New York. In addition, the carved prince-of-whales plume that embellishes the bookcase doors, although used in other cabinetmaking centers, was embraced by New York craftsmen and patrons, enough so to be included in the 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-Work as plate no. 20. illustration. The "Price for Filling Bookcase Doors; each pair with astragals or bands" was four pounds; "preparing and fixing carved ornaments to doors to be paid according to time."
The name of the cabinetmaker of this bookcase, however, remains ellusive. New York supported numerous craftsmen who worked in the English Regency style, any number of whom were capable of making this form. Duncan Phyfe, for example, owned a copy of the New York Revised Prices, and like his colleagues, was aware of the current designs through this book, other printed sources, or through the furniture of other craftsmen (the personal signed copy of Duncan Phyfe's 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-Work is in the collection of the Winterthur Library: Printed Book and Periodical Collection).