Description:
Desk-and-bookcase on frame made by Israel Guild (1767-after 1831), who was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, moved to Conway in 1791, and died in Michigan after 1831, for the 1799 marriage of John Williams (1767-1845) and Nancy ("Anna") Stoddard (1769-1849), the daughter of Solomon Stoddard (1736-1827) of Northampton. Both the Williamses and the Stoddards belonged to the “Mansion People,” a group of seven elite families who held the majority of religious, military, and civic positions in their communities, and filled prominent professions such as merchants and physicians. This desk represents not only the prominent stature of the couple, but also evokes their level of knowledge and literacy. The back is inscribed: "John William Conway Mass. Made by Israel Guild probably between 1791-1799. Known to have been in use before 1803 JAW." "JAW" was Jurusha Ann Williams Woodruff (1835-1915), the granddaughter of John and Nancy Williams and mother of Mary A. Woodruff (b.1834), from whose estate sale in Northampton this desk-and-bookcase and a dressing table was bought in the 1930s (Winterthur has the dressing table). Jerusha Ann Woodruff and Mary A. Woodruff inscribed both the secretary and dressing table with their names. The conservative stance of most furniture made in the Connecticut River Valley did not preclude experimentation with design and the adoption of fashionable motifs. This desk-and-bookcase, which was made in a traditional manner, featured modern, neoclassical detail superimposed on a Georgian framework. The desk’s inlay, urn-shaped finials, spiral quarter columns, and brass bail handles were adapted from coastal New England furniture that had been in production for a decade. The carved rosette in the pediment, carved capitals and feet, and paneled doors are details of a furniture design that had been popular for two generations. The upper section has a molded broken scroll pediment ending in inlaid hickory pinwheel rosettes and three urn and flame finials with the two side finials on small fluted plinths, over a molded arched tympanum and an inlaid pinwheel rosette in the center. Two fielded paneled doors cover a two-shelf bookcase with a shaped center divider, and rope carved quarter-columns along the lenght of the outside edges. The full-front lid has an inlaid star in the center; inside, the center prospect door has an applied carved heart and pilaster drawers on each side, which were made by repeated drilling holes in a single block of wood to create a slot rather than assembling a narrow box from five short boards. There are four cubby holes on each side of the prospect door and seven small drawers underneath. Each side has a pull extension to support the lid when extended. The lower case has four graduated long drawers and spiral quarter-columns along the lenght of the edge, and brass bail carrying handles on each end. The chest frame has four short cabriole legs ending in pad feet. The original appearance has been restored to the mahoganized cherry, based on evidence found inside the case. This was done by sealing the wood with clear shellac and suspending the pigment in the applied surface itself, in this case also shellac; the dark color is easily reversible without intruding upon the wood.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.194 |
