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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: sl8Eddy on January 10, 2012, 07:34:21 PM

Title: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: sl8Eddy on January 10, 2012, 07:34:21 PM: HI !

Any ideas on what I have here and what it might be worth? I would greatly appreciate it. Also, the best way to sell it within a month or twos time (ebay or craigslist or antique consignment shop etc)?

My mom called it a captains desk or a ships desk or something like that.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/sl8eddy/desk/

40 1/2" tall
18 1/4" deep
34" wide.

I'm in Southern California.

Thank you very much!!!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: frogpatch on January 10, 2012, 07:49:51 PM: That is really unusual. Can you tell if the drawer may have had a single wood knob at one time, by a filled in hole The Chippendale style pulls do not look right for such a simple almost Shaker like design. Also can we see the drawer side and the back on the piece. It appears to be pine and really not that old but it is hard to tell in the picture.
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: mart on January 10, 2012, 07:59:40 PM: Can you post your pics on this site so we can get a better look !! Hard to tell from those pics !! Looks to be a nice one !!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: sl8Eddy on January 10, 2012, 10:19:36 PM: Quote from: frogpatch on January 10, 2012, 07:49:51 PM
That is really unusual. Can you tell if the drawer may have had a single wood knob at one time, by a filled in hole The Chippendale style pulls do not look right for such a simple almost Shaker like design. Also can we see the drawer side and the back on the piece. It appears to be pine and really not that old but it is hard to tell in the picture.

Thanks for the quick reply. Thanks for requesting more photos! I found some things.
There's a "Made by Townshend in Vermont paper label inside the drawer as well as a "19" stamped into the back of the piece.

It doesn't appear to have any "repairs" on the inside of the drawer.

Thanks again!!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: sl8Eddy on January 10, 2012, 10:22:45 PM: more pics...
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: sl8Eddy on January 10, 2012, 10:44:31 PM: more pics
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: matty77 on January 10, 2012, 11:20:48 PM: Check-out this article:

http://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/ftaylor/qa71.htm

This info, along with the pics on the same page, may give you the answer you're looking for. The company information can be found at:

http://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=436325

Hope this helps!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: jacon4 on January 11, 2012, 03:27:38 PM: The form is similar to a 19th century plantation desk. Your desk seems to be a 20th century copy of this popular southern form.
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: sl8Eddy on January 11, 2012, 04:41:36 PM: Thanks everybody!!!!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: frogpatch on January 11, 2012, 06:00:13 PM: Here is the information on the label. Please read.
http://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/ftaylor/qa71.htm
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: matty77 on January 11, 2012, 07:34:28 PM: I guess good researchers think alike Frogpatch! :D
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: frogpatch on January 12, 2012, 05:30:40 PM: Looks to be that way
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: mart on January 13, 2012, 05:49:10 PM: OK !! I hate to admit this,, and it wasn`t until Jacon4 posted that my brain thawed out !! I have tried to think of the word "plantation" for days !! I had seen similar desks but could not,, for the life of me,,remember that word !! Thanks Jacon4 !! Just don`t tell anyone about my brain freeze !!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: cogar on January 14, 2012, 05:45:45 AM: Quote
HA, brain freezes aren't so bad.

I once bought a Plantation desk that I found still sitting in an old 1-room schoolhouse. It was made of popular, had the tall back w/glass in the doors. I sold it before I knew what it was called. Education is sometimes expensive. ;D ;D
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: jacon4 on January 14, 2012, 06:06:24 AM: LOL, Yep, it happens. This form of desk was very popular in the south during the mid 19th century with the best examples made from walnut & cherry. Examples made from pine or poplar were also quite common as these desks were very functional in their day.
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: mart on January 14, 2012, 10:49:02 AM: Most I have seen were pine !! Bad thing is,,,I am in Texas and you don`t get much more southern than that !! And I was drawing a blank trying to remember that word !! Kind of like putting something in a safe place where you won`t forget where it is,,,then it takes a month to find it totally by accident !!
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: jacon4 on January 14, 2012, 11:43:39 AM: Any ideas on what I have here and what it might be worth?

And now the bad news, most desk forms in the antique furniture world have taken a BIG hit in recent years & never recovered. Period Chippendale slant lid desks from the 18th century that once sold regularly in the 5-10k range are lucky to get one or two thousand now. As one dealer remarked recently, "slant lid desks are about as easy to sell as a toothache". Why? most speculate that people want desks now that can accomodate computers,printers, etc. So dont be surprised if it takes awhile to sell & you dont get what you think its worth.
Title: Re: Please Help ID Old Desk
Post by: mart on January 14, 2012, 12:20:20 PM: Same as most rolltop desks that used to sell well !! They just don`t have a place in homes/offices today !!