A Federal inlaid and figured mahogany bookcase on chest, possibly Baltimore, Maryland circa 1800

retains a MESDA label S-6944. Feet with restorations.

According to the MESDA file, this piece was acquired in Prince George's County Maryland, near upper Marlboro

Mesda Catalogue of Early Southern Decorative Arts, photo archives S-6944

A few panes of glass cracked and crazing (milkiness) to glass, proper left rear foot facing bottom two inches restored, proper left front side foot facing with 2 inches restored, proper right rear foot facing with 3 inches restored, proper right front side foot facing with 5 1/2 inches restored, proper right front front foot facing with four inches restored, proper left front front foot facing with two inches restored
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Made of mahogany with poplar and white pine secondary woods, this bookcase on chest represents a rare American form. It is a transitional example of Maryland cabinetmaking combing Rococo and Federal style attributes. Its massive form is visually lightened by the French bracket feet while the fine cornice carving, glazed doors, and highly figured mahogany drawer fronts enliven its overall composition. It exhibits a command of scale and elegant understated design.

It is similar in basic form and decoration to a group of desk-and-bookcases associated with the work of John Shaw of Annapolis. Two of the aforementioned desks bear his label and are pictured in William Voss Elder and Lu Bartlett, John Shaw: Cabinetmaker of Annapolis, Baltimore, 1983, nos. 40 and 49, p. 119 and 139. Another example with a fall front is illustrated in Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America, Vol. I, p. 268, fig. 292. The Shaw pieces exhibit pierced scrolled pediments, swelled bracket feet and inlaid decoration.

Cornice decoration of a dentil molding above an arch repeat pattern also appears on two mahogany Baltimore secretaries and a breakfront included in the exhibition Baltimore Furniture: The Work of Baltimore and Annapolis Cabinetmakers from 1760 to 1810 held at the Baltimore Museum of Art in 1947 (see accompanying catalogue nos. 71. 73, and 89, pp. 110, 114, and 140). With a history in the Bosley family of Baltimore, the latter piece is currently in the collection of the Maryland Historical Society and bears an attribution to William Camp of Baltimore.