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Lot Essay
From the shop of one of the most prolific of the preeminent of Boston cabinetmakers, this work table by William Fisk (1770-1844) displays a number of features most commonly associated with Boston furniture. Most notable is the combined use of the scroll and lotus on the feet, but also present are the crisp carving, elegant veneers, lustrous finish and superb construction for which Boston furniture is praised (Feld, Boston in the Age of Neo-Classicism (New York, 1999), p. 24).
William Fisk worked at several locations on Washington Street during his career between 1810 and 1835. He has long been associated with the Willard clock-making dynasty of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and, according to family biographer J.W. Willard, was the firm's most prolific cabinetmaker (Feld, p. 25); for an example of these collaborations, see lot 26. For more on the Fisk and Willard association, see Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900 (Norwell, 2002), pp. 199-201 and 251.
William Fisk worked at several locations on Washington Street during his career between 1810 and 1835. He has long been associated with the Willard clock-making dynasty of Roxbury, Massachusetts, and, according to family biographer J.W. Willard, was the firm's most prolific cabinetmaker (Feld, p. 25); for an example of these collaborations, see lot 26. For more on the Fisk and Willard association, see Paul J. Foley, Willard's Patent Time Pieces: A History of the Weight-Driven Banjo Clock, 1800-1900 (Norwell, 2002), pp. 199-201 and 251.