Desk on Chest
- Desk on Chest
(Closed): 50 × 41 5/8 × 23 3/8 in. (127 × 105.7 × 59.4 cm)
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The columns flanking the drawers of the lower section of this desk give it a strong architectural character in keeping with the Late Classical style that was popular in the 1820s and 1830s. Texas German cabinetmakers continued to work in the style—now often called Biedermeier—long after its wider popularity waned. The slant front of the desk opens to reveal a central compartment surrounded by small drawers, each decorated with and outline of inlay.
Adapted from Lonn Taylor and David B. Warren. Texas Furniture: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840–1880. Vol. 1, rev. ed. Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, 2012.
Provenance[Cobweb Corners, Houston]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 12, 1962; given to MFAH.
Exhibition History"Texas Furniture," Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, Austin, July 13–October 6, 2013.
"Made in Texas: Art, Life and Culture: 1845–1900," Beeville Art Museum, Texas, September 20, 2014–January 10, 2015.
Published References Taylor, Lonn, and David B. Warren. Texas Furniture: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840−1880. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1975, p. 234, no. 7.12; Warren, David B. Bayou Bend: American Furniture, Paintings and Silver from the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Boston: New York Graphic Society, 1975, p. 121, no. 226; Warren, David B. "Ima Hogg, Collector." The Magazine Antiques 121 (January 1982), p. 238; Venable, Charles L. "Texas Biedermeier Furniture." The Magazine Antiques 127 (May 1985), p. 1166; Warren, David B. Bayou Bend: The Interiors and the Gardens. Houston: Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1988, p. 61. Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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