Description
With our highest compliments & utmost honors, Bay Colony Antiques is extremely proud to offer for sale this fantastic early 19th century antique Vermont Federal period Cherry & Birds Eye Maple tambour secretary desk. Tambour desks like this are a uniquely American design & the majority of them were made around the northeast coast in cities like Boston, Portsmouth, & Salem. We purchased this from a Massachusetts home in the very northwestern corner of the state about 5 minutes south of the Vermont border. The desk is one piece which unusual to begin with & is made from the absolute best grade of Birds Eye Maple & a dark stained Cherry to contrast the bright Maple. Because Vermont had an abundance of high quality local woods available, solid Birds Eye Maple boards were used for the drawer faces with the only veneered areas on the desk being the skirt & the lid. The Tambour doors open to reveal a 4 drawer interior with a total of 12 pigeonholes (6 standard, 1 large, 1 large double, 2 squares, & 2 rectangles). There's a nicely scrolled panel above the upper pigeonholes & the 4 interior drawers have small brass knobs. One of our favorite features on the desk are the half columns that flank the upper section. The lower plinths are angled to allow the lid to pass & provide the necessary transition where the columns don't look out of place. in terms of rarity, this is probably rarer than a Seymour desk. Very few tambour desks were made in Vermont, but we don't understand why because Vermont cabinet makers often advertised their training in major cities like Boston & New York where they learned the "latest fashions". There's a common misconception that western VT was primarily influenced by New York City & Hartford, & eastern Vermont drew more inspiration from Boston & Portsmouth. in reality the cabinet makers moved around & the majority of the settlers that came to Vermont in the early 19th century were from these neighboring states. The desk is very similar to pieces from John Marshall's shop in Royalton Vermont. Marshall was a prolific cabinet maker & like most cabinet makers he didn't sign his work. The same scrolling can be found on a documented John Marshall clock in Rich & Tasty & Marshall frequently used a 3 ring turning to separate turning patterns. Now we're sure some will have a hard time correlating the two, but if you look at another John Marshall desk in the Dutton house not all of his furniture was inlaid like the Cheney clock. While only a handful of items are universally accepted to be from Marshall's shop, we can assure you he made a lot more than a half a dozen pieces throughout his career. We were recently at the Bennington & the Shelburne museums & this desk can rival any desk in either collection. The lid is made from Cherry with a Birds Eye Maple veneer on the outside face with a banded Mahogany border. The construction on the inside of the lid is quite peculiar & there's a long drawer inside with a sectioned interior. Regardless
