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Photo: Courtesy Newport Restoration Foundation, 2002.227
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Child's desk-on-frame

Object number

RIF2472

Maker

Maker Unknown

Dimensions

35 1/4 × 30 1/4 × 16 1/4 in. (89.535 × 76.835 × 41.275 cm)

Date

1720–50

Current location

Newport Restoration Foundation, Rhode Island

Geography

Possibly made in Rhode Island, Made in
(view a map of Rhode Island)

Medium

Maple (primary); chestnut (secondary)

Inscriptions

"D R" branded on the valanced apron; "1" in pencil on interior front panel of upper right drawer.

Provenance

Mrs. Giles Whiting (née Flora Ettlinger, 1881–1971), New York; consigned by her estate to Sotheby Parke Bernet, Inc., New York, April 14–15, 21–22, 1972, lot 565; sold to Doris Duke (1912–1993) for Newport Restoration Foundation, Rhode Island, 1972; Whitehorne House Museum, Newport Restoration Foundation, Rhode Island, from 1974

Associated names

Flora Ettlinger Whiting
Doris Duke

Construction

The grain of the bottom of the exterior drawer runs from side to side; the bottom is chamfered on the underside and fits into grooves in the drawer front and sides. The top and bottom rails join the case sides with a half dovetail. The batten ends of the slant lid have open tenons near the hinge.

Bibliography

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Important American Furniture: Property from the Estate of the Late Mrs. Giles Whiting, New York, sale cat. (April 14–15, 21–22, 1972), 87, lot 565.