Augusta County, Virginia, 1805-1815
Black walnut with yellow pine, tulip poplar, butternut, and maple
Catalog no. 137
The exterior of this backcountry desk mirrors many British-inspired neoclassical desks made in coastal centers in the South. The desk is adorned with delicate string inlays on the drawers, flared French feet, and a color-contrasted inlaid fan on the skirt made of butternut and maple. Much of the structural evidence indicates the maker's familiarity with German-American craft traditions, however.
As on many other backcountry desks, the dovetail joints on the top are fully exposed, and the battens on either end of the fall board are through-tenoned. The drawers are supported on thin drawer runners instead of the full dustboards used in coastal furniture. Even the inlaid vine and flower motif on the document drawers parallels German-American craft motifs. This likely reflects the desk's original ownership in the family of George M. Coiner (1758-1840), a German farmer who moved to Augusta County from Pennsylvania late in the eighteenth century.