Desk and bookcase
About 1755–70
Object PlaceNewport, Rhode Island, United States
Medium/TechniqueMahogany, chestnut, red cedar, white pine, yellow-poplar
Dimensions258.44 x 101.6 x 66.04 cm (101 3/4 x 40 x 26 in.)
Credit LineGift of Bernon E. Helme and Nathaniel Helme
Accession number40.790
On View
On viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
Although related in form to the other desk-and-bookcase in this gallery, this example varies in its details from that piece and other members of the group. For instance, it is the only example with a single finial, without quarter columns in the upper case, and with un-carved centers of the shells on the lid of the desk. James Helme left this desk to Elijah Reynolds Potter of South Kingston, Rhode Island, who in 1835 bequeathed it to his son, Thomas Mawney Potter, a noted antiquarian.
ProvenanceTraditionally belonged originally to Elisha Potter, Sr. of Kingston, R.I., in whose family it descended; 1940, gift of Bernon E. Helme and Nathaniel Helme (Accession Date November 14, 1940)
1760–70
about 1870–80
about 1820-1825
about 1790–1810
Same key/Same key
