Desk

MakerAttributed to Edward F. Caldwell & Company (1895 - 1959)

Date1917-1918

Mediumparquetry and other veneers and inlays, cast brass, gilding, leather

DimensionsOverall: 29 3/4 × 61 1/4 × 30 1/8 in. (75.6 × 155.6 × 76.5 cm)

Credit LineReynolda Estate

CopyrightPublic Domain

Object number1922.2.141

DescriptionThis Louis XV-style parquetry desk is rectangular in overall shape with cut corners and square tapered legs canted to accentuate the cut corners. The top is inset with leather that has been tooled around the edge and framed by mahogany veneer with the grain radiating from the leather. Five drawers—including one long center drawer flanked by four short side drawers—have gilded cast brass pulls. The desk is distinguished by large parquetry (geometric wood inlay arranged in block patterns) veneer panels on two short sides framed by string inlay and mahogany veneer with the grain radiating from the panels. The parquetry on the drawers is echoed by panels of similar size on the back of the desk. The square tapered legs, ending in brass feet, are covered with the same striated mahogany veneer enclosed by string inlay.
ProvenanceFrom 1964
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, NC, acquired in 1964. [1]

Notes:
[1] In the early 1960s Charles H. Babcock (1899-1967) gave the house and its contents to the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. The house was then incorporated as a museum and collection (Reynolda House, Inc.) on December 18, 1964 with the signing of the charter at its first board meeting. The museum first opened to the public in September 1965.

Status

On view