Desk and Bookcase (Primary Title)
Unknown (Artist)
Attenuated proportions and bold inlay link this desk and bookcase to a group of works produced in the Rockingham County region of the Shenandoah Valley. Traveling along the Great Wagon Road through Pennsylvania and Maryland, both American-born craftsmen and European-trained immigrants – particularly Germans – were introduced to Philadelphia and Baltimore styles and techniques. The result was a synthesis of diverse traditions into a vernacular style centered in nearby Winchester, Virginia. Developed and modified by successive generations, the style reached as far south and west at the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In this piece, it resonates in the overall form and decorative flower-and-vine inlay, which recall both regional and European craftsmanship and illumination.
Stylistic similarities link this desk and bookcase with works thought to have been produced by Adam Schultz of Daphna, Virginia, but no further information is known.
Some object records are not complete and do not reflect VMFA's full and current knowledge. VMFA makes routine updates as records are reviewed and enhanced.
