Salem Bombe Desk and Bookcase

[ttalma]

I just got my May Antiques last night. For those who haven't seen it there is a Salem Bombe Desk and Bookcase for sale by C.L. Prickett. I think it's a great piece. And there is lots of info about it on Prickett's website. (http://www.clprickett.com/)

It also appears to be sold. I'm wondering what the price was.

[Mark Arnold]

Tim,

Thanks for the head's-up on this piece. It's fairly impressive. I called to see if print copies of the online promotional catalog are for sale and was told no... but you can download it from the site if you want...they are hi-res images.

While reading through the physical description of the lower case drawers of this piece and other bombe chests from the same shop, the following line struck me as odd: "pins and tails on rear dovetails are reversed from the usual orientation."(http://www.clprickett.com/CLP4941pg11.htm) This "clever solution" reveals the "hand and mind of a very mature craftsperson." The reason given for the reversal is that drawers with splayed sides are subject to being loaded more heavily. Wasn't it infinitely easier for the craftsman to cut tails on a flat piece of stock and pins on the end of a curved drawer side? Especially after dry-assembling the drawer sides to the drawer fronts? Am I missing something here?

[dkeller_nc]

Mark - I don't think you're missing anything here, it's just salesmanship in the rarified air of high-end antiques.  I'm always amused by the "important" designation to any early american antique that a dealer badly wants to sell for a very high price.  Important to whom?  And does that mean that everything else is unimportant?

I've even read a number of descriptions of pieces in Sack's "The New Fine Points of Furniture" that describe the brasses as "large and important".  How ridiculous!  To say nothing of the oft-repeated phraseology of "retains a mellow, nut-brown patina" to describe "grimy and in need of a professional cleaning". ;-)

[sbachner]

I believe there's an "important" porcelain apple? in the May issue as well.