Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2007.

Counting House Desk

CultureAmerican

Dateca. 1790

MediumWalnut

DimensionsOverall: 39 1/4 x 42 x 23 1/2 in. (99.7 x 106.7 x 59.7 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Friends of Historic Houses and the Campaign for the Future

Object number2005.18

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, MMH, Upper Sitting Room

DescriptionThis is an American walnut "Butlers" desk with a rectangular top with a hinged lid. It is fabricated from mixed woods: primary or show wood - black walnut; secondary woods - white pine (the back of the case and the sides, backs, and bottoms of the drawers); tulip poplar (the writing surface now covered by felt) and southern yellow hard pine (rails for the drawer glides). Rectangular case mounted on four straight legs. The case is essentially constructed like an 18th century pianoforte case in that the hinged flat top folds back to reveal the interior; the fall front opens to form a writing surface. The interior is fitted with five plain rectangular drawers over ten arched pigeonholes. The two end drawers are shorter than the middle suggesting that secret drawers may have originally been located in back of them. There are two long drawers below the fall front. The front legs are fluted and front and sides are fitted with "Chinese" fretwork brackets.

Label TextCounting House Desk, ca. 1790 Norfolk, Virginia Walnut Gift of the Friends of Historic Houses and the Campaign for the Future 2005.18 This desk was used by Moses Myers at his warehouse office and counting house on Newton’s Wharf along the Elizabeth River. It was critical to expediting tomes of incoming and outgoing correspondence in the Myers’ successful international business.ProvenanceDescended in the Moses Myers family: possibly Samuel Myers to his son, Moses Myers II; Moses Myers II to his son, Barton Myers II; Barton Myers II to his daughter, Mary Graham (Myers Andrews); Mrs. Mary Graham Andrews to the Chrysler Museum of Art, 2005. Published ReferencesRonald L. Hurst and Jonathan Prown, _Southern Furniture 1680-1830: The Colonial Williamsburg Collection_ (Williamsburg, Virginia: The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, 1997), # 71, 242-244.