The House of Miniatures

THoM Product # 40042 - Chippendale Slant Front Desk

Catalog Description: Practicality, as well as beauty, was built into the original of this desk with its three large drawers and its pigeonholes and small drawers behind a lid which became a writing surface when open. 3 1/4"h x 3 1/2"w x 1 7/8"d.

Circa: 1750

Style: Chippendale

Period: Colonial

Design © 1979

American cabinetmakers first began construction the desk as an individual item of furniture between 1680 and 1690. Initially these desks were two piece affairs with either a flat, or slanted hinged top being placed on a base containing drawers, or a cupboard. After 1700 the one-piece desk became common and one of the most popular versions became the three, or four drawer desk with a slant-front that folded down to provide an additional writing surface. The interiors were at first left plain, but since the desk quickly became the center of homes record keeping, the cabinetmaker was soon providing a variety of arrangements of drawers and pigeon holes for his customers. The treatment of the bases varied. This Chippendale version has a short apron with scrolled bracket feet. Exterior finishes ranged from traditional ward red mahogany to veneers of exotic, or crotched grained wood. The addition of a closed top on a desk like this quickly converts it to a tall secretary.

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