Desk and Bookcase
John Townsend (attributed)
In the 1700s, Newport, Rhode Island, was the fifth largest city in North America and one of the most important centers of shipping and trade along the Eastern Seaboard. Orders for furniture from its celebrated cabinetmakers came in from far and wide. This desk and bookcase was likely made for Oliver Wolcott Sr., a signer of the Declaration of Independence and later governor of the State of Connecticut. Eventually, the desk passed down through his family to Dorothy Draper, an important 20th-century interior decorator, and ultimately to her daughter, Penelope Draper Buchanan, whose husband ga...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Dimensions
- overall: height 2.4 m, width 1.08 m, depth 0.648 m
- Department
- Decorative Art and Design
- Holding institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image provider
- cleveland-museum-of-art
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Gift of Harvey Buchanan in memory of Penelope Draper Buchanan and Dorothy Tuckerman Draper
Art Genome Taxonomy
11 tags
Artistic Disciplines
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Design Both · 98%
The Cleveland Museum of Art classifies the object within Decorative Art and Design, and the image presents a highly resolved piece of functional furniture design.
Visual Qualities
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Symmetrical Visual · 99%
The front elevation is organized around a central vertical axis, with paired upper doors, balanced finials, repeated panels, and regularly arranged hardware.
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Highly Ornamented Visual · 95%
The cabinet combines figured wood, molded and recessed panels, layered moldings, turned finials, a shaped pediment, and numerous decorative brass fittings.
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Curvilinear Forms Visual · 94%
The pediment and its scrolling moldings introduce pronounced flowing curves into an otherwise rectilinear cabinet structure.
Time Periods
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18th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the object c. 1780–95, placing it within the eighteenth century.
Geographic Regions
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American Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies John Townsend as American and gives the place of origin as Newport, Rhode Island, America.
Materials
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Wood Both · 100%
The catalog lists mahogany, cedar, chestnut, and pine, and the image visibly shows a predominantly wooden cabinet with richly varied grain.
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Brass Both · 99%
Brass is specified in the catalog, and numerous bright brass pulls, escutcheons, hinges, and fittings are visible on the front.
Design Concepts and Techniques
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Handcrafted Furniture and Design Interpretive · 84%
The catalog describes large desks as complicated masterworks of the cabinetmaker’s art, and the object’s fitted drawers, molded components, turned finials, and applied hardware support its association with handcrafted furniture production.
Furniture and Lighting
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Desk Both · 100%
The catalog title identifies the object as a desk and bookcase, while the image clearly shows a fall-front writing surface above a bank of drawers.
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Shelving Both · 96%
The catalog title identifies a bookcase, and the upper section is visibly formed as a tall enclosed cabinet for books or documents.
Source & rights
John Townsend (American, 1732–1809). Desk and Bookcase. Cleveland Museum of Art.