Please Help ID Old Desk

[sl8Eddy]

HI !

Any ideas on what I have here and what it might be worth? I would greatly appreciate it.  Also, the best way to sell it within a month or twos time (ebay or craigslist or antique consignment shop etc)?

My mom called it a captains desk or a ships desk or something like that.

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd60/sl8eddy/desk/

40 1/2" tall
18 1/4" deep
34" wide.


I'm in Southern California.

Thank you very much!!!

[frogpatch]

That is really unusual. Can you tell if the drawer may have had a single wood knob at one time, by a filled in hole The Chippendale style pulls do not look right for such a simple almost Shaker like design. Also can we see the drawer side and the back on the piece. It appears to be pine and really not that old but it is hard to tell in the picture.

[mart]

Can you post your pics on this site so we can get a better look !! Hard to tell from those pics !!  Looks to be a nice one !!

[sl8Eddy]

That is really unusual. Can you tell if the drawer may have had a single wood knob at one time, by a filled in hole The Chippendale style pulls do not look right for such a simple almost Shaker like design. Also can we see the drawer side and the back on the piece. It appears to be pine and really not that old but it is hard to tell in the picture.

Thanks for the quick reply. Thanks for requesting more photos! I found some things.
There's a "Made by Townshend in Vermont paper label inside the drawer as well as a "19" stamped into the back of the piece.


It doesn't appear to have any "repairs" on the inside of the drawer.



Thanks again!!

[sl8Eddy]

more pics...

[sl8Eddy]

more pics

[matty77]

Check-out this article:

http://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/ftaylor/qa71.htm

This info, along with the pics on the same page, may give you the answer you're looking for.  The company information can be found at:

http://www.macraesbluebook.com/search/company.cfm?company=436325

Hope this helps!

[jacon4]

The form is similar to a 19th century plantation desk. Your desk seems to be a 20th century copy of this popular southern form.

[sl8Eddy]

Thanks everybody!!!!

[frogpatch]

Here is the information on the label. Please read.
http://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/ftaylor/qa71.htm

[matty77]

I guess good researchers think alike Frogpatch! 

[frogpatch]

Looks to be that way

[mart]

OK !!  I hate to admit this,, and it wasn`t until Jacon4 posted that my brain thawed out !! I have tried to think of the word "plantation" for days !! I had seen similar desks but could not,, for the life of me,,remember that word !!  Thanks Jacon4  !!  Just don`t tell anyone about my brain freeze !!

[cogar]

HA, brain freezes aren't so bad.

I once bought a Plantation desk that I found still sitting in an old 1-room schoolhouse. It was made of popular, had the tall back w/glass in the doors. I sold it before I knew what it was called. Education is sometimes expensive. 

[jacon4]

LOL, Yep, it happens. This form of desk was very popular in the south during the mid 19th century with the best examples made from walnut & cherry. Examples made from pine or poplar were also quite common as these desks were very functional in their day.