18th century AD

Magazine Antiques, May, 1994 by Michael S. Podmaniczky, Philip D. Zimmerman

The great American collector Henry Francis du Pont (1880-1969) acquired the desk-and-bookcase shown in Plate I in 1928. Then thought to have been made in Rhode island, it had previously belonged to the pioneer collector George S. Palmer (1855-1934) of New London, Connecticut.(1) Of its early history there survives only an inscription on the left-hand sliding support (or loper) for the slant front, suggesting that it once belonged to an Edward Brinley, who was listed in the 1790 census as living in Weston, Massachusetts. it is a masterful example of the best Massachusetts rococo cabinetmaking.

The bombe shape was first introduced to Boston in the mid-eighteenth century, probably from England,(2) with the earliest documented example being the pulpit made by Abraham Knowlton (d. 1749?) for the 1749 meetinghouse of the First Church in Ipswich, Massachusetts.(3) In 1753 the Massachusetts cabinetmaker Benjamin Frothingham Jr. (1734-1809) signed the earliest known piece of American bombe furniture, a desk-and-bookcase.(4) Bombe shapes, like serpentine drawer fronts, were sawed from thick planks of expensive mahogany. In the most refined bomb6 furniture, the curving surfaces flow over three or four drawers rather than just the two bottom drawers. When combined with a serpentine front, as in the Brinley desk, the complex reflective surface yields an unending play of light across the rich grain. In keeping with the smooth contours of the exterior, the fitted interior of the desk section (Pl. IV) forms an inclined broken ogee curve rather than the more common block-front configuration.

On the bookcase section, following the tenets of the rococo style, the C-scrolls and carved foliate decoration dissolve structural outlines and the borders of the door. Very thin paired colonnettes of two different lengths flank the mirror to give an illusion of depth that is enhanced by the layering of carved leaves and rocaille work around the top of the glass.

Holes in the top of the case over each engaged pilaster indicate that some kind of ornaments once adorned the corners.

In 1956 du Pont acquired a desk-and-bookcase (Pl. III) that had descended in the family of Joseph Barrell, a wealthy Boston merchant who was reportedly its first owner.[5] Charles F. Montgomery stated:

There is little doubt that [the Brinly and Barrell desk-and-bookcases]...are from the same shop. The design and construction of the bases are identical in almost every detail except for the brases. Also, the unusual design and the conception of the bookcases are similar.[6]

Despite this evaluation, the nearly identical desk sections of each piece emphasize the differences in design of the bookcases. Whereas the Brinley bookcase is rococo, the Barrell bookcase is neoclassical. Leaving aside for the moment the three figures, the carved ornament on the Barrell bookcase is symmetrical, and the motifs are stylized adaptations from ancient Roman architectural sources. The naturalistic foundations of the rococo have given way to the proportions of architecture.

A detailed comparison of the two desks confirms with reasonable certainty that they were made in the same shop. The similarities of the bombe and serpentine shapes are more than visual. When the cases are placed back to back or the drawers placed edge to edge, the lines are identical, indicating that the same templates were used to by out the curves (see Pl. VI.) The manner in which the ball-and-claw feet are attached and the pattern of the glue blocks behind them reveal a level of consistency that again suggests the work of a single shop (Pls. IX, X).[7] Even the inscriptions on the bottoms appear to be by the same hand. The fitted interiors of the desks not only resemble each other but differ from nearly all other Massachusetts examples.[8]

At this point several unusual features of the Barrell desk should be noted. The steel scissor hangers supporting the slant front fit into a recess carved into the left side board (see Pl. VIII), but there is no such recess in the right side board. A careful inspection of the right side board shows that it was once badly bowed outward in the middle. A thin shim was then inserted into the gap between the side board and the fined interior, and the bowed outside of the side board was planed flat. Because of the bow, the right-hand scissor hanger has adequate clearance without a carved recess in the side board.

Also visible m Plate VIII are two horizontal grooves m the side board next to the dividers between the small drawers. Identical grooves appear in the right side board. All four grooves have been filled in, suggesting either a cabinetmaker's mistake at the time the desk was made or that an interior of different dimensions was installed later. The later would appear to be the case since the faint scribed layout line for a larger bottom board to the interior section is visible (Pl. XI) The original bottom board may have been recut, but the drawer fronts are certainly replacements since the altered pitch of the sloping facade could not have been achieved by recutting the original drawer fronts. it seems likely that when the right side board bowed out and pulled away, the fitted interior and the blades, or dividers, between the large drawers below the writing surface came loose and the joints broke. The owner probably put the desk into storage and year's later, when it was restored, the original interior was discarded and replaced with a shallower fitted interior that was recessed farther into the case to avoid as much of the bowed side board as possible.