Child’s slant-lid desk

1900-1940

from old parts

Measurements

34-1/4 in 20-7/8 in x 19 in

Materials

Hard pine (desk and gallery or comb) and oak (legs)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3790

Condition Notes

See "Comments"

Provenance

Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

The dovetailed rectangular case has a hinged and inclined top, attached with cast iron hinges.  The bottom board of the desk, made of three boards glued edge-to-edge, has a projecting molded edge around all four sides.  The desk stands on four octagonal legs that were added later.  The gallery, with shaped ends, is nailed to the top of the desk.  Its noticeably cruder dovetails suggest that the gallery was added to the writing box at the same time as the legs, thus transforming a tabletop writing desk into a different furniture form.

The lock is a replacement, and the brass escutcheon is not original to the desk.