This slant top desk is a combination of styles chosen from several examples of pieces from the furniture collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Museum of Fine Art in Boston.

The ball and claw foot is from the Cogswell Pattern with a packed side claw in the Boston … style. The carved base molding is a water leaf pattern. The desk front was slip matched from one board of Mahogany from the base molding up through the drawer fronts and into the desk gallery.

The sides of the case and the writing surface were slip matched from three consecutively sawn boards. In the gallery the half column turnings are applied to conceal the paper drawers. The blocked shell carving is a locked door. The serpentine shaped drawers flow up to concealed stamp drawers behind the top in side aprons. All the interior drawer sides are constructed with highly figured soft maple. The finish is French polish.

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