11-01-200811-02-2008
Skinner Auctions
Skinner AuctionsBoston MA
2431Boston
November 1, 2008 03:00 PMCalender
204

Shaker Pine and Birch Sewing Desk

Sell one like this
$18,960$16,000
Auction: American Furniture & Decorative Arts - 2431Location: BostonDate / Time: November 01, 2008 3:00PM

Description:

Shaker Pine and Birch Sewing Desk, possibly the work of Henry Green (1844-1931),Alfred, Maine, c. 1860, the upper gallery of six thumbmolded pine drawers above a pull-out birch work surface and a lower case of simlar pine drawers flanked by double recessed panels, old surface, (minor evidence of wear),ht. 38 1/2, wd. 31 1/4, dp. 24 1/4 in. at the overhang of the desk top

Note: the label attached to the reverse reads, "The United Society of Shakers Sabbathday Lake, Maine."

Literature: According to Shaker Furniture Makers by Jerry Grant and Douglas Allen, 1983, by Hancock Shaker Village, pp. 154-155, Henry Green joined the Shaker community at Alfred, Maine, where he made furniture, "much of it with the plain line and distinctive proportions of early Shaker furniture," despite the fact that some was made in the 1870s. He moved to Sabbathday Lake, Maine, when the Alfred, Maine, community closed in 1931.

The Complete Book of Shaker Furniture by Timothy Rieman and Jean M. Burks, Abrams, Inc., 1993, pictures a similar sewing desk from Alfred, Maine, plate # 250, attributed to Henry Green, c. 1860.
Estimate $15,000-25,000

Pine secondary; work surface, butternut.

Keywords

Shaker Pine, Maine, Henry Green, Alfred, Birch Sewing Desk, United Society of Shakers Sabbathday Lake, Jerry Grant, Douglas Allen, Abrams Inc., Jean M. Burks, Timothy Rieman