AFA Summer 2019

Antiques & Fine Art 99 2019 Fig. 5: Blockfront bureau table, Philadelphia, 1760–1790. Mahogany with Atlantic white cedar and tulip poplar. H. 28¾, W. 33¾, D. 21⅝ in. Courtesy, Philip H. Bradley Antiques. between them. 5 Wood analyses in 1992 confirmed these findings: the top and bottom boards of the bookcase and desk sections have secondary (structural) woods of yellow (or hard) pine; the backboards of each case and the large drawer bottoms are of Atlantic white cedar (with grain running front-to-back); and the small drawer sides in both cases are red or sweet gum. Drawing primarily on the presence of red gum, Greenlaw concluded that the desk and bookcase was made in New York, midway between Philadelphia and Boston. Better information available in the decades since Greenlaw’s study points to a Philadelphia origin. Red gum, for instance, has been identified by microanalysis in some pieces of Philadelphia furniture. Large yellow pine and white cedar boards point to Philadelphia (and south), rather than New York. The absence of white pine leads away from Boston. Aside from wood use, certain features of the desk interior are distinctly Philadelphia. Interiors with pigeonholes over two tiers of drawers with a central prospect door occurred everywhere, but these drawers have serpentine fronts that create a rhythmic façade (Fig. 3). 6 Another small, but telling detail is the double-thick vertical pigeonhole dividers that separate the drawers. Although not exclusively used in Philadelphia work, it is far more common there than elsewhere. Design of the scrolled bracket feet, having a notable scroll at the bottom, is not a helpful indicator of origin, since examples are known from different American regions. Provenance reinforces the physical evidence. In a 1945 auction catalogue, the desk and bookcase was described as from the collection of Miss Elizabeth C. Biddle. 7 Born in 1870, she died unmarried in