Inlaid Writing Table (no. 720)

Item

Title

Inlaid Writing Table (no. 720)

Creator

Craftsman Workshops

Date

1904-11 (ca.)

Credit line

Collection of Crab Tree Farms

Marks

Pencil inscriptions on the bottom of drawers and in the case denote the location of drawers. These are numbered “23” and “24” in the gallery, and “1” and “2” for the larger drawers. Shop mark (decal) on interior of lower right-hand drawer.

Description

Part of the suite of furniture located the girls’ bedroom, it remains unclear whether these pieces were made specifically for the Log House in Morris Plains, or whether they arrived with the large shipment of furniture from Syracuse that the family received in June 1911, or the numerous other shipments recorded in Stickley’s ledgers. Regardless, the delicate lines of the inlay and the soft coloring of the woods harmonized with the blue Grueby tiles of the fireplace and brought unity to the space. Unlike the standard model no. 720, the wrought copper drawer pulls are replaced with simple, turned wooden handles that further emphasize the sense of delicacy. There was likely a lower shelf in the center of the gallery that was removed at some time.

Desks were an important part of the furnishing plan at Craftsman Farms and—with the exception of the kitchen—virtually every room in the Log House had a desk or dedicated work surface, a fact recorded in the 1917 inventory of the furnishings. In the living room, the large partner’s desk and even the octagonal table served this purpose and both the dining room and the porch had desks and desk chairs specifically listed. Upstairs, there were desks in the master bedroom, the east center bedroom, the north-east corner bedroom, as well as this from the girls’ room. While the hall had no desk, per se, the table and straight chair recorded in the inventory suggest this too was a space in which work or writing was undertaken.

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Relation
Title Alternate label Class
TitleInlaid Chest of Drawers (variation of no. 913) Alternate label Class Object