Very Fine and Rare Queen Anne Cedarwood Slant-Front Desk, attributed to Christopher Townsend, Newport, Rhode Island, circa 1750

John C. R. Tompkins, Millbrook, New York.

Erik Gronning and Amy Coes, "The Early Work of John Townsend in the Christopher Townsend Shop Tradition," American Furniture 2013, ed. Luke Beckerdite, (Milwaukee, WI: Chipstone Foundation, 2013), p.22, fig. 47.

Refinished. Pulls replaced. Breaks to feet facings on proper right front and both proper left feet. case width: 36 in. case depth: 18 1/2 in.
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The remarkable desk, possibly made for the export market, has details indicating that it originated in Christopher Townsend’s shop.  Made of cedar, this object has an “M” finishing mark similar to those on other pieces documented and attributed to Christopher Townsend as well as drawer backs with Christopher’s script lettering system.  Moreover, the precisely rendered dovetails, rounded edges of the drawer sides, and chamfered top edges of the drawer backs are consistent with his work.  Christopher Townsend is documented as having made several cedar desks for export over the course of his career. Including “2 Cedar Desks, and Casing” in 1748. John Banister paid him £83.12.6 for those pieces, which were shipped on the sloop Little Polly bound for Jamaica. In 1764 Captain Peleg Bunker purchased a red cedar desk from Townsend and agreed to make payment after returning from the West Indies (see Morrison Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005), p. 48).