Secretary
Thomas Day
(American, 1801–1861)
1841
Object PlaceMilton, North Carolina
Medium/TechniqueMahogany veneer, mahogany, maple; pine, yellow poplar
DimensionsHeight x width: 90 x 45 x 23 in. (228.6 x 114.3 x 58.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection
Accession number2010.946
On View
On viewClassificationsFurniture
Collections
Thomas Day was born into a free Black family in 1801 in Virginia, where the majority of people of African descent were enslaved laborers. He established his furniture making business in Milton, North Carolina, where he attracted customers from among the region’s white planter elite. In 1850 his shop was the largest furniture business in the state. His works, like this secretary, were rural adaptations of the fashionable Late Classical (or Empire) style of the day. But the dramatic scrolls on the front of the glass doors are a signature element of Day’s best designs.
Provenance1899, private collection, Lowryville, [Tennessee, see note]. 20th century, acquired on the Charleston, S.C. art market by a private collector; early 1990s, sold by this private collector to Derrick Beard, Washington, D.C.; November 20-21, sale (consigned by Beard), Neal Auction, New Orleans, lot 419, to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 15, 2010)
NOTE:
A pencil inscription inside the back of one drawer, written in what appears to be late nineteenth-century handwriting, reads "made Sept 29, 1841 / brought to Lowryville, Aug 24, 1899." The inscription noting the object's move to Lowryville might suggest that the secretary was owned by someone in Thomas Day's family. According to the consignor, Day's mother's family is said to have migrated west to Tennessee in the late nineteenth century.
NOTE:
A pencil inscription inside the back of one drawer, written in what appears to be late nineteenth-century handwriting, reads "made Sept 29, 1841 / brought to Lowryville, Aug 24, 1899." The inscription noting the object's move to Lowryville might suggest that the secretary was owned by someone in Thomas Day's family. According to the consignor, Day's mother's family is said to have migrated west to Tennessee in the late nineteenth century.
1760–70
about 1820-1825
about 1810-1825
