Desk and Bookcase
Maker
William Applegate
Period1750 - 1770
MediumMahogany, mahogany veneer, poplar, and pine
Dimensions96.5 × 45.5 × 24.25 in. (245.1 × 115.6 × 61.6 cm)
ClassificationsStorage Furniture
Credit LineGiven in memory of Mary Jackson Riker, President of the Monmouth County Historical Association from 1950 to 1967, by her son William C. Riker, Jr., 1996
Object number1996.21
DescriptionThis imposing desk and bookcase is constructed in two parts, with the upper or bookcase section topped by a scroll pediment with a dentil cornice and three small plinths with turned finials (the finials are currently missing). A pair of paneled doors with serpentine double ogee top rails and two brass scroll escutcheons are mounted flush with the outer edges of the bookcase frame. The bookcase interior features three adjustable shelves which fit into grooves cut into the side boards. Two candle slides with small brass pulls are centered below the doors. The lower or desk section includes a hinged slant top which when open rests on a pair of lopers. The veneered slant top's interior writing surface is lined with green wool baize edged with gold stamped morocco leather. The interior features a plain prospect door flanked by four pigeonholes with arched valences above pairs of plain shallow drawers and a second tier of five shallow drawers running the full width of the interior. Below the slant top are four graduated drawers with thumbnail molded edges, brass bails with solid backplates, and brass escutcheons. Large carved claw and ball front feet, curved ogee back feet, and a simple front skirt pendant complete the base.Curatorial RemarksA very formal and academic piece of furniture, this scroll pediment desk and bookcase descended in the family of William Applegate, along with several related items, accompanied by the tradition that Applegate was the maker. Two of the other pieces are desks and bookcases of this same style. The first, also with a scroll pediment, is of mahogany and remains in the possession of an Applegate descendant in Monmouth County. The other, which appears to be curly maple, has a pitched pediment and was illustrated in The Magazine Antiques in August 1942. It had at the time been recently sold by a great-great-great-grandson of its maker. The desk and bookcase in the Association's collection bears an old handwritten label glued inside the left door. On it is a lengthy transcription of an account of William Applegate from the Red Bank Register of 10 November 1916, and the notation "William Applegate / maker of secretary 1750." Because there are several inaccuracies in the transcribed account, the 1750 date cannot be assumed to be exact. This imposing piece of furniture could have been made at any time during Applegate's career. With its broken scroll pediment, square block-shaped carved claw and ball front feet, sturdy proportions, and paneled bookcase doors with double ogee top rails, this desk and bookcase is firmly grounded in eighteenth century New York cabinetmaking practices. William Applegate's skills at producing furniture are reflected throughout the piece in such details as dustboards between the drawers in the base, veneered drawer fronts, and the complex construction of the desk's writing surface or fall board. It is framed on four sides in mahogany, which is banded on the outside with a two and a half inch wide mahogany burled veneer. The center board, which forms the interior writing surface and would have been covered with leather or fabric, is of pine with a thick mahogany veneer on the outside.NotesWilliam Applegate (1726 - 1776) was born on his grandfather's homestead farm at Applegate's Landing on Raritan Bay in Middletown, Monmouth County. His father, Richard, had succeeded to the farm, where he and his wife raised eight children. When Richard died in 1732, he left all of his land, upon Rebecca's death or remarriage, to his young son William. In 1741 at the age of fifteen, William was apprenticed to Patrick Jackson, a New York cabinetmaker, for the term of five and a half years "to learn the art, trade, and mystery of a joiner." Although Jackson does not appear on any documented lists of cabinetmakers in New York, he must have been a master craftsman judging by the quality of work that William was able to produce after learning from him. Shortly after completing his apprenticeship, William returned to Monmouth County where he appears as a "carpenter" or "joiner" on deeds and land transfers between 1749 and 1775. William married Elizabeth Ogborn in 1758 and they had eight children. He died at the early age of fifty on 24 October 1776. Writing in the early twentieth century, historian Dr. John E. Stillwell stated that "pieces of furniture, that [Applegate] wrought with his own hands, are in the possession of his descendants. He succeeded to the homestead and worked the lands devised him by his father. He prospered in his worldly affairs, and increased his landed estate by purchases, and at his death was the owner of several hundred acres of land, in the vicinity where he lived, as well as slaves and other personal property." Stillwell owned Applegate's account book covering the years 1756 to 1776. It is now part of the John E. Stillwell Collection at the New-York Historical Society. While the vast majority of the work it documents was carpentry on houses, barns and outbuildings, there are scattered references to making furniture, especially coffins. In May of 1764, for example, Applegate billed George Taylor 9 pounds "To a black walnut Case of Draws." Three years later, there is an entry in John Mount's account "To making a desk & finding part of the bords" for 2 pounds, 10 shillings. Just before his death, on 30 May 1775 Applegate charged Obadiah Bowne 10 pounds "To a chest of draws." Other citations indicate that this versatile carpenter/joiner produced tea tables, tables of cherry and bilsted, cradles, close stools, and chests.
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