This desk-and-bookcase is illustrated in a turn-of-the-century view of Dwight Blaney's study on Beacon Hill in Boston, pictured here on the left. Filled with emblems of the past and objects that Blaney held dear, this photograph illustrates the world in which Blaney lived, where, as a friend noted, "one walked not across and freely around and about the rooms but in symmetrically laid out aisles between arrangements of furniture of the finest character....This was not an aggregate but a collection of which each piece was known and loved." (Stillinger, Antiques, p. 750). This was the home of a true New England Yankee.

Desk-and-bookcases with cylinder lids were a new fashion introduced by the pattern books of George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton in the last quarter of the 18th century. Showcased as a "very convenient piece of furniture, answering all the uses of a desk, with a much lighter appearance" (Hepplewhite, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholster's Guide, (New York, Dover rpt., 1969), pp. 12-13), desk-and-bookcases were produced in the finest cabinet shops for successful patrons interested both in pleasing form and function.

An emblem of respectful admiration of the past, this example retains its glazed Gothic doors, once hung with curtains, and displays the original ivory urn finals and pulls. Desk-and-bookcases of this type are often associated with the school of John and Thomas Seymour. Whether the craftsmen of this particular firm were the creators, or one of their many skilled competitors is unknown. The quality of execution, a hallmark of many Boston and Salem shops, and the state of preservation of this example distinguish it as a truly fine and rare survival of a very functional and attractive form.

Related examples with ivory hardware are illustrated in Dean Fales, Jr., Furniture of Historic Deerfield, (New York, 1976), fig. 482; American Furniture from Israel Sack Collections, vol. III, p. 648, P1445.