CONNECTICUT, CIRCA 1786

Subtle decorative details, such as the dentilled molding, the twist-carved decoration down the bookcase doors, the serpentine valances in the upper case, the scooped prospect drawers in the writing interior and the applied quarter columns in the lower case embellish an other plain desk-and-bookcase. These decorative elements relate closely to stylistic features found on case pieces. A reverse-serpentine chest of drawers attributed to the New Hartford area of Connecticut exhibits a virtually identical case with applied quarter columns (see Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield County Furniture 1730-1850 (Litchfield, Connecticut, 1969, pp. 40-41, cat. no. 23). A chest-on-chest attributed to Canaan features a similarly dentilled cornice (see Litchfield, pp. 52-53, cat. no. 30) and a reverse-serpentine chest in the collection of Frederick K and Margaret R. Barbour demonstrates identical twist-carving (see The Connecticut Historical Society, Frederick K. and Margaret R. Barbour's Furniture Collection, (Hartford, 1963), pp. 34-35, frontispiece and also illustrated in Frederick K. Barbour, "Some Connecticut case furniture," The Magazine Antiques (April 1963) p. 436.