Secrétaire à abattant

Duncan Phyfe|D. Phyfe & Son|Duncan Phyfe & Sons

1835–47 · Mahogany, mahogany veneer, yellow poplar, white pine, gilded brass, mirrored plate glass, marble, ivory · The American Wing

The rippling figure of mahogany veneers sheaths the Classically inspired columnar supports and architectonic mass of this secrétaire à abattant, or "French secretary" according to the 1834 New York cabinetmakers’ price book. In the 1830s and 40s, the Phyfe workshop embraced the revival of Grecian designs and use of flashy veneering techniques popularized by their French counterparts. The Phyfe workshop produced very few secrétaires but may have based this form on number 368 of volume one (1813-1815) in Pierre de La Mésangère’s Collection de Meubles et Objets de Goût (1820–1831). The secrétaire employs sophisticated hardware such as spring-locked drawers for the safekeeping of valuables and a drop-fron with a weighted iron balance hinge.

Artist

Duncan Phyfe|D. Phyfe & Son|Duncan Phyfe & Sons

Date

1835–47

Medium

Mahogany, mahogany veneer, yellow poplar, white pine, gilded brass, mirrored plate glass, marble, ivory

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Purchase, The Manney Collection Gift, 1983