New photography by Pat Cagney with a digital camera.

Bookcase

Attribution William Kent (English, 1685 - 1748)

CultureEnglish

Dateca. 1753

MediumMahogany with inlaid ivory and brass mounts

DimensionsOverall: 105 x 84 x 17 3/4 in. (266.7 x 213.4 x 45.1 cm)

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.2216.8

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 208

DescriptionThis is a mahogany bookcase with inlaid ivory and brass mounts. Double doors, six drawers. Description from Christie's catalogue; George II mahogany library bookcases with a deeply protruding cornice with flower-carved coffered underside above egg-and-dart, the upper case with a pair of glazed cabinet doors with carved divides and lettered respectively 'A' & 'B' (The Chryslers' is C) and with brass escutcheon engraved with the Morritt family crest, enclosing five adjustable shelves with carved front edges, the base with a Vitruvian scroll frieze fitted with a pair of slender secret drawers opening by means of a pin to either side of the base, over two ranges of three graduated drawers, each with their original brass escutcheons and bail pulls and numbered 1 through 6, each range enclosed within a carved surround, on a plinth base, the sides of the case mounted with brass lifting handles, the back edge of the base and midsection molding with cuts to accommodate a dado.

Label TextAttributed to William Kent English, 1685-1748 Bookcase, ca. 1735 Mahogany with inlaid ivory and brass mounts Architects and furniture designers in this period looked to classical forms, as this bookcase attests. Designed for the art connoisseur Sir Thomas Robinson, the massive bookcase is adorned with a scroll frieze at its base, egg-and-dart patterning on its doors, and a heavy temple cornice at the top—elements all inspired by classical architecture. The case contains a selection of books from the private library of Moses Myers, the 18th-century Norfolk merchant whose home was also conceived in the classical style. Maintained by the Chrysler, the Moses Myers House can be visited today in downtown Norfolk. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.2216.8 Books from the Moses Myers House library, maintained by the Jean Outland Chrysler Library ProvenanceSir Thomas Robinson 1st Bt. (d. 1777) (all four bookcases) for Rokeby Hall, Yorkshire, England; Sold with the house to John Sawrey Morritt of Cawood, 1769; Sold (all four) by the Morritt family to Leonard Knight, London, 1946; Sold to Arthur S. Vernay, New York; Sold (just bookcase 'C') to the Walter P. Chrysler Jr. Collection of English Furniture, Part Two, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, May 6-7, 1960, Lot 548; The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, 1971. Exhibition HistoryTHE WALTER P. CHRYSLER, JR., COLLECTION OF ENGLISH FURNITURE, PART II, Parke-Bernet Galleries, Inc., May 6-7, 1960, #548. Published ReferencesF. L. Hinckley, _A Directory of Queen Anne, Early Georgian and Chippendale Furniture_ (New York; 1971) pl. 101. Jeff Harrison, _Collecting with Vision: Treasures From the Chrysler Museum of Art_ (London: D. Giles Ltd., 2007), 152, fig. 191. ISBN: 978-0-940744-72-1 Two of the four (A & B) George II mahogany library bookcases went to auction in 2008; Christie's, _Important English Furniture_, 1993, April 25, 2008, New York, NY, lot 100.