28 
House & Garden 
PERIOD STYLES in OLD and NEW DESKS 
Their Placing and Part in the Composition of the 
Room—Identifying the Types 
H. H. BRIDGES 
AS early as the 16th Century, desks were 
lx. considered of enough importance to at¬ 
tract the attention of master craftsmen. Their 
work, in turn, attracted the patronage of royal¬ 
ty, who, realizing the importance of the desk 
as a work of art, placed them in their most 
notable rooms. 
We have grown to feel the same admiration 
for this once neglected piece, especially during 
the last few years, 
for we realize 
that it has a dis¬ 
tinct role to play 
in the composi¬ 
tion of a decora¬ 
tive scheme, 
where period fur¬ 
niture is used. 
W hen o u r 
country was 
young, few old 
desks were to be 
found among the 
scanty furniture. 
Our Colonial 
forebears could 
not bring over 
many of their be¬ 
longings in the 
diminutive ships. 
One of the earli¬ 
est that came to 
our shores was 
brought in the 
Mayflower, owned 
by no less a per¬ 
sonage than John 
Alden. It was 
claw feet type, showing rising sun ornamenta¬ 
tion on the drawers. In the old Stark Mansion 
at Dunbarton, New Hampshire, is another that 
was originally owned by Robert Morris, the 
“financier of the Revolution.” It was inherited 
by the present owner, who is a direct descend¬ 
ant. These are only a few of the desks still to 
be found in homes over the country, with which 
history has been intimately connected. 
In their construc¬ 
tion the best woods 
only were used— 
usually mahogany 
and walnut, al¬ 
though sometimes 
white wood ve¬ 
neered was chosen. 
Desks of this peri¬ 
od should be used 
in rooms where the 
furniture is Co¬ 
lonial in type, as 
they harmonize 
with that style. 
Should you by 
chance have inher¬ 
ited an old mahog¬ 
any desk, remem¬ 
ber in determining 
its make that if it 
was in your fam¬ 
ily’s possession be¬ 
fore the Revolution 
it was in all proba¬ 
bility an imported 
one, for furniture 
was not designed to 
any extent in our 
not a large desk, standing only 2 Yd high and 
known as a bureau desk. This has never been 
out of the family and is treasured in the home 
of one of his descendants, and is in as good 
condition as when it was first brought here. 
Another interesting example is the desk once 
owned by General Israel Putnam of Revolu¬ 
tionary fame. On it he wrote many of his war 
letters. It is a fine example of the ball and 
Early Georgian 
feeling is found 
in this secretary 
in a New York 
apartment 
From New En¬ 
gland comes this 
type of early 
American desk 
with slant top 
The red lacquer 
of this old desk 
has been repeated 
in the mirror 
frame above 
