Desks

Date1800 - 1899

Terms

Desks
Metal
Mahogany
Pine
Boston

Dimensions195.43 × 73.6 × 50.76 cm (76 15/16 × 29 × 20 in.)

MarkingsTwo identical labels (now on file): "POST OFFICE, Concord, Mass. Mails distributed From the East at 8 A.M.; 12.20, 6, 7 P.M. From the West at 9 A.M. Mails Close: For the East at 8.10 A.M.; 1, 6.15 P.M. For the West at 7.10 A.M.; 5 P.M. Office Hours from 6.45 A.M. to 8 P.M., Saturdays 8.30 P.M. WM. BUTTRICK, P.M."

Credit LineGift of Gwendolyn Dolliver (1991)

Object number1991.21

Description"Postmaster's Desk". Mahogany, pine. Lower case (NS, shelf 48): four turned legs; back and sides tenoned to legs. A single dovetailed drawer runs the full width of the front. 1/2" thick, two-board top. Upper case (NS, shelf 45): sides dovetailed to top and bottom boards, horizontal back boards nailed into rabbeted sides. Cove and quarter-round cornice. Upper half closed with two locking doors, frame and panel with ripple molding. Lower half closed with locking, hinged lid, which folds down to form the writing surface. Upper half divided into 40 slots with mahogany-faced pine 1/4" boards. Lower half similarly divided into 33 slots, a central prospect, and a dovetailed drawer on the right. Lid is divided on the face with moldings to imitate the two doors above. The slots are identified with paper labels. His card (found in the desk) advertised the hours the post office (located in his home) was open. All the openings in the case are envelope size, indicating the desk was originally made for postal (mail) use, perhaps for Buttrick's predecessor in Concord (see provenance).

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