Desk on Frame

Maker unknown

Philadelphia, 1735–50

Walnut

Sewell C. Biggs bequest; 2004.139

Though popular throughout England and New England, desks on frames were extremely rare in the Mid-Atlantic colonies. The elaborate silhouette of this desk’s skirt, the S-curved, cabriole legs, and so-called “trifid” feet are all decorative ideas borrowed from the British Queen Anne style.