Desk and bookcase
Unknown
1760–90 · Mahogany, chestnut, white pine, yellow pine, yellow poplar, cedar, brass · The American Wing
The blocked, tripartite desk drawers and shell-carved fall-front provide a sturdy foundation for the towering bookcase with a grand arched pediment. Behind the bookcase doors lie cubbyholes and drawers in which business and household records were stored. Many colonial Rhode Island families made their livelihoods through the transatlantic exchange of enslaved people, sugar, and other commodities. This monumental workstation embodies the superior craftsmanship of Newport cabinetmakers while implicating the destructive commerce and consumption of the Triangle Trade.
- Artist
- Unknown
- Date
- 1760–90
- Medium
- Mahogany, chestnut, white pine, yellow pine, yellow poplar, cedar, brass
- Culture
- American
- Department
- The American Wing
- Credit line
- Rogers Fund, 1915
