Desk and bookcase

Born and trained as a cabinetmaker in France, Anthony Quervelle was in Philadelphia by 1817. He quickly became one of the most important and prolific Philadelphia craftsmen working in the late Neoclassical style, boasting in one advertisement to have "the largest and most fashionable assortment of furniture ever yet offered for sale in this city." The craftsman enhanced his reputation by winning recognition at several mechanical arts competitions, including the Franklin Institute's exhibition in 1827 where he was awarded a silver medal for a closely related desk and bookcase.Quervelle merged French motifs learned during his early training, probably in Napoleon's imperial workshops, with British forms that were popular in his adopted city. In this majestic desk and bookcase he combines the massive, architectonic form and richly grained woods derived from British designs, with tapered columns, anthropomorphic paw feet, and radiating fan doors that add a French flair. The rounded, inlaid rays of the fan doors made of exquisite mahogany and bird's-eye maple are particularly noteworthy for their technical achievement, as are the carved, veneered, and gilded elements that lavishly ornament the piece. Quervelle also demonstrated his sure grasp of the latest styles by using newly fashionable Gothic arches on the glass doors and interior desk pigeonholes, and pressed glass knobs on the interior drawers. This text was adapted from Ward, et al., MFA Highlights: American Decorative Arts & Sculpture (Boston, 2006) available at www.mfashop.com/mfa-publications.html.