Desk, Portable
- Object Name:
- Desk, Portable
- Object ID:
- 1947.025.58
- Place of Origin:
- England
- Date:
- 1800-1810
- Description:
- Lap Desk. Mahogany, with pine base; brass hardware. Rectangular box that opens on a slant, creating a slightly angled writing surface. Several compartments on interior, as well as a full-width drawer that opens on the left side of box. Heavy gauge brass corners, trim, handles, hinges, and screws. Handles are countersunk, and fold flush with the surface of the box (left side handle is also the drawer pull). Decorative brass dots on both sides of each handle. Brass lock with large brass escutcheon; escutcheon is rectangle, with cut-out corners. Brass plaque inserted in center of box lid, same shape as escutcheon (plaque is not inscribed).
Drawer is of dovetail construction, mahogany throughout. Incised line along edge of drawer front. Several slivers of wood under the drawer appear to be glue block supports. Brass pin goes through hole in left side of box, locking the drawer when the pin is in place.
Box interior includes velvet (burgundy color) covered writing surface, and four compartments, including one long one for pens and nibs. Additional storage space under both sides of the writing surface; brass and bone stamp found in one of the compartments. N.H.H.S. label on bottom: "portable writing case--mahogany veneer, brass corners, trim, handles, hinges, drawer in side. Source Miss Jessie Tilney". - Material:
- Wood
Metal - Dimensions:
- H-5.875 W-16 D-10.5 inches
- Provenance:
- Collected by Mary Thompson (Mason) Tilney (1855-1914), mother of the donor, from farm houses near her summer home in Pleasant Valley, NH (near Wolfeboro) between 1895 and 1913.
- Credit Line:
- The Tilney Collection, Gift of Jessie M. Tilney, in Memory of Robert Fingland Tilney and Mary Mason Tilney
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