Label Type
Object LabelLabel
Desk, ca. 1780-1800
coastal northern New England
mahogany, mahogany veneer, pine secondary wood
Gift of the Trustees of Thornton Academy
Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
In the 18th century, desks, or “bureau desks” as they were sometimes called, were meant to be useful: a place to store valuables such as jewelry, seals, or money; to write letters, file important documents, and keep business records, all in one piece of furniture that was as impressive to look at as the customer could afford. Not surprisingly, the desk donated to the York Institute by George Addison Emery in 1934, descended through the family of one of the region’s consummate businessmen, Col. Thomas Cutts. The other desk, which was “discovered” at Thornton Academy, has much later pencil inscriptions “Col. Thomas Cutts”, “Thomas Cutts, Jr.” and “Nancy Haggans,” although any history in the Cutts family is now lost. Colonel Thomas Cutts did have two mahogany desks in his 1821 probate inventory; one was in the lower west room and the other in the north lower room and parlor. They were each valued at $8.00. However, the addition of Nancy Haggans’ (or Haggens/Higgins) name is curious as she and her brother, Maj. Tilly Haggens, were fictionalized characters in Sarah Orne Jewett’s 1901 novel, The Tory Lover. The names were shared by actual residents of South Berwick, Maine, who were related although not as siblings.
These two desks and a third one which is still owned by a local family are virtually interchangeable. That is, the design and dimensions are so close that drawers from one fit into the others. The bold form, generous proportions, and substantial claw and ball feet have a relationship to Boston-made desks of the period, however some of the construction details, such as the fine dovetails present in the drawers, may relate to other areas such as coastal Essex County, Massachusetts, where craftsmen were not as eager to get pieces out the door to the local customer or on board ship for sale elsewhere. Each drawer front is shaped from a single thick piece of mahogany, which may have been the craftsman’s way of creating the desired look without the expertise to make the most efficient use of costly imported tropical hardwood. Although three of these desks exist in close proximity to each other, the cabinetmaker that made them remains unidentified.
