Desk represents Eastlake style

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Aug 1, 2003 by Helaine Fendelman

Dear Helaine and Joe: Enclosed is a picture of a desk belonging to my 97-year-old mother. She inherited it from an aunt who bought it at an auction many years ago. There are no markings or dates. Could you please give me some information on it?

MLM, DuBois, Pa.

Dear MLM: Very few pieces of Victorian furniture were signed by their makers, and collectors should not expect to find meaningful markings on most 19th-century furniture. To be sure, a few American and English firms did sign their products during this time, but the vast majority of all pieces of furniture with the manufacturer's label on them were made during the 20th century.

This attractive secretary desk, however, does not need any kind of label for us to know quite a lot about it. First of all, it is Victorian, and it was made in a sub-style that is known as "Eastlake."

Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906) was an English architect and furniture designer who literally despised the curves and excessive ornamentation found on most mid-19th century Victorian furniture. In his 1868 book "Hints on Household Taste," he espoused a return to rectangular forms with solid mortise and tenon construction and restrained decoration.

In effect, he wanted a return to a time when furniture was well- made and more straightforward in design. At one point, this style was called the "Early English" or "Modern English Gothic" style, but today, we tend to refer to it as "Eastlake."

Unfortunately for Eastlake's reputation, his ideas were somewhat perverted by many furniture manufacturers in the United States who churned out vast quantities of severe, rectangular, largely unattractive pieces that now bear Eastlake's name. In England, the "Modern Gothic" stuck a little closer to Eastlake's original idea, and it can be somewhat more attractive than many of the mass- produced American pieces.

We believe that the secretary desk belonging to MLM is English Eastlake, and it appears (it is often hard to be sure from a photograph) to be made from walnut. This particular piece has a slant front desk with a long drawer and cabinet doors below and two bookshelves and a small cabinet with a glass front above.

The ornamentation on this piece is limited to triangular strap hinges on the desk's lid, a fancy escutcheon at the keyhole, plus some restrained fan-shaped and line designs that are scattered here and there. In the photograph, the piece appears to be refinished, which will detract from its value a bit, but still, the insurance replacement value on the current market is between $2,000 and $2,500.

Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of Treasures in Your Attic (HarperCollins, $18). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.