From: Sotheby's New York, Important Americana including Property from the Rhode Island Historical Society, 164, lot 230
Click the image to enlarge
|
Butler's desk and bookcase |
|
Object numberRIF1907 |
||
MakerMaker Thomas Howard, Jr., 17741833Alternate name(s): Thomas Howard |
||
DimensionsHeight: 80 in. (203.2 cm) Width: 37 in. (93.98 cm) Depth: 20 1/2 in. (52.07 cm) |
||
Date181220 |
||
Current locationUnknown |
||
GeographyMade in Providence, Rhode Island(view a map of Rhode Island) |
||
MediumMahogany (primary); white pine, cherry (secondary); sheet glass (bookcase doors) |
||
Marks"Thos. Howard's/Cabinet Warehouse/Near the Bridge/Providence, R.I." in graphite on the top of the desk section. P. E. Kane could not find this inscription when the desk was examined at Sotheby's in 2006. |
||
Inscriptions"3," "2," "1" in graphite on the exterior drawers from the bottom to the top and on the corrresponding drawer dividers. Two generations of numbers are visible. "X" in graphite on the drawer dividers. |
||
ProvenanceMr. and Mrs. W. Stanley Barrett, Providence, Rhode Island, by 1965; given to Rhode Island Historical Society , Providence, 1981; consigned to Sotheby's, New York, October 7, 2006, lot 230 |
||
Associated namesW. Stanley BarrettThe Rhode Island Historical Society Sotheby's Mrs. W. Stanley Barrett |
||
ConstructionThe grain of the wood on the three-piece drawer bottoms runs from side to side; the drawer bottoms fit into rabbets in the front and sides and are nailed to the underside of the drawer back with brads. glue blocks on the underside reinforce the joints at the front and sides. An applied strip covers the joints of the drawer dividers and the case. The drawer supports are nailed to the case sides and are replaced. The bottom board is flush with the lower rail. The backboards are butted together. Examined by P. E. Kane and M. Taradash, October 4, 2006. |
||
BibliographyEleanore Bradford Monahon, "Thomas Howard, Jr., Providence Cabinetmaker," Antiques 87, no. 6 (June 1965): 702, fig. 1.Sotheby's, New York, Important Americana Including Property from the Rhode Island Historical Society, sale cat. (October 7, 2006), 164, lot 230, ill. Eleanore Bradford Monahon, "Providence Cabinetmakers," Rhode Island History 23, no. 1 (January 1964): 78, fig. 2. Patricia E. Kane et al., Art and Industry in Early America: Rhode Island Furniture, 16501830, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2016), 113n44. |