A CHIPPENDALE PART EBONIZED AND INLAID CHERRYWOOD BLOCKED REVERSE SERPENTINE DESK-AND-BOOKCASE

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PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF MRS. J. INSLEY BLAIR

A CHIPPENDALE PART EBONIZED AND INLAID CHERRYWOOD BLOCKED REVERSE SERPENTINE DESK-AND-BOOKCASE

CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY, 1780-1800

Details

A CHIPPENDALE PART EBONIZED AND INLAID CHERRYWOOD BLOCKED REVERSE SERPENTINE DESK-AND-BOOKCASE
CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY, 1780-1800
87 ½ in. high, 36 ¾ in. wide, 19 ¼ in. deep

Provenance

Henry V. Weil, New York, 1927
Mrs. J. Insley Blair (Natalie Knowlton) (1883-1951), Manhattan and Tuxedo Park, New York, purchased from above, August 1927
Natica (Blair) Lorillard (1913-1955), daughter
Screven Lorillard (1909-1979), husband
Alice (Whitney) Lorillard (1919-2015), wife
Thence by descent in the family

Literature

Albert Sack, Fine Points of Furniture: Early American (New York, 1993), p. 173 (masterpiece).

Special notice

Please note lots marked with a square will be moved to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn) on the last day of the sale. Lots are not available for collection at Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services until after the third business day following the sale. All lots will be stored free of charge for 30 days from the auction date at Christie’s Rockefeller Center or Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Operation hours for collection from either location are from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm, Monday-Friday. After 30 days from the auction date property may be moved at Christie’s discretion. Please contact Post-Sale Services to confirm the location of your property prior to collection. Lots may not be collected during the day of their move to Christie’s Fine Art Storage Services (CFASS in Red Hook, Brooklyn). Please consult the Lot Collection Notice for collection information.

Lot Essay

Described by Albert Sack as a “Masterpiece” and a “tour de force of Connecticut innovative genius,” this desk-and-bookcase reveals the virtuosity of early American cabinetmaking. From the blind fret-carved frieze and the elaborate sweeping amphitheatre to the rounded blocking and idiosyncratic foot and skirt embellishments, this desk displays a variety of ornament, all of which is imaginatively conceived and expertly rendered. This piece is recorded in Mrs. Blair’s 1943 inventory where she describes it as a “Cherry Secretary Desk. Serpentine Block. Broken Pediment. Eagle. Orig. Brasses.” She purchased it in August of 1927 from Henry V. Weil for $4,100.

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