24 
House & Garden 
ANTIQUE DESKS 
AND THEIR APPRECIATION 
So finished have modern cabinet makers become that 
no antique piece exists but they can make a faith¬ 
ful reproduction of it. And the collection of faith¬ 
ful reproductions is a hobby alt by ' itself. Here are 
shown a few of the historic types after which copies 
can be made. IVith two e.vceptions the photographs 
are by courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum. 
Dating from, some time beticeen 1650 and 
1700 is an American desk box on a frame of 
maple and oak. It is practically a table desk 
with draioers 
Like the table desk opposite, this shows the 
same tendencies in construction, being a 
table with a drawer, substantial in line and 
construction. The wood is oak 
T he appeal of old furniture which 
has the merit of form, design and 
workmanship of high order is one that is 
not the reflection of a passing fad or 
fancy; it has come to be one of attach¬ 
ment and genuine sincerity. 
If it took the greater part of the 19th 
Century to teach us the futility of fixing 
our affections on exaggerated novelties, 
such as those which dimmed the reign of 
Queen Victoria and boomed the Bun- 
thornes of the eighties, the 20th finds us 
discriminatingly chastened. We are tak¬ 
ing out of our houses, those of us who 
can, the pieces of furniture that ought 
not to have been made, putting into their 
places old-time things of beauty, or when 
it is not possible for us to acquire veri¬ 
table antique pieces, the high-grade re¬ 
productions of old furniture that now 
grace the market and show no abatement 
in popular esteem. 
In classifying the hobbies of several 
thousand collectors who had stated their 
In the period of the First Empire tvere 
made desks tcith drop fronts. Ormolu 
decorations distinguish it. Note the 
cut-in “knee-hole" 
Some time between 1750 and 1775 was first 
made the Rhode Island style of desk with 
block front, cabinet top. classical cornice and 
brass fitments. The icood teas mahogany 
Another American type is the slant-top. It 
dates from, about 1725. The frame is pine 
and the general lines are simple. Legs are 
turned but the stretchers are plain 
Of about the same period as the block front 
shoicn opposite is this with a broken pedi¬ 
ment cornice and carved classical figures. 
Mahogany is the wood used throughout 
