Prickett Desk 2011

would have been the most expensive furniture that could be purchased, affordable only to a wealthy merchant, and normally displayed in the best parlor for all to admire, perhaps envy. This conspicuous display of wealth constituted a physical testament to the social and economic importance of the merchant. Who would have owned these important secretaries? Only the Bybee Collection example has a documented family history of descent from the original owner, Col. Joseph Sprague (1739–1808), one of Salem’s wealthiest and most prominent merchants of the second half of the eighteenth century. 9 A list of Salem’s wealthiest families in 1757 who might have sought such a symbol probably included such men as Richard and Elias Derby, George Crowninshield, John Pickering Sr. and Jr., Benjamin Pickman, Samuel Barton, Richard Leechmore, Benjamin Oliver, Col. Timothy Orne, John Turner and George Williams. 10 Their everyday function was principally for the voluminous and incessant correspondence and complicated bookkeeping and accounting required of a seaport merchant involved in international trade. The desk provided the writing surface, space to lie out the accounts and secure storage for letters and sheet papers. In the present secretary, the unusual pair of wide, flat, convex-front drawers, just above the desk surface, perfectly fits one standard tall size 18th century account book. Desk- section letter-holes gave organized space for letters which were often secured in bundles. The bookcase section above served for storage of books and the variety of 13