Art Institute of Chicago
Secrétaire à abattant
Attributed to Isaac Vose & Son (American, active 1819–25)LinkedCulture matchlcp-17760cd36643
- Date
- 1820–25
- Medium
- Mahogany, mahogany veneer, white pine, and popular, with black marble, ormolu, and brass
- Culture
- Boston
- Department
- Arts of the Americas
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Object ID
- 100054
From the Art Institute of Chicago record
This architecturally inspired secretary was originally owned by David Sears (1787–1871), a prominent merchant and landowner, whose house, designed by Alexander Parris (1780–1852), still stands at 42 Beacon Street, Boston, as the Somerset Club. An 1822 perspective drawing of the home shows a double-columned portico with composite capitals similar to those of the secrétaire, epitomizing the American interpretation of the late French Empire style. The simple form of the exterior highlights the luxuriousness of its materials and also belies a complicated interior of intricate drawers and shelves of various sizes.
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Provenance & credit
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- Credit line
- Gift of the Antiquarian Society through the Lena Turnbull Gilbert Fund
- Provenance
- David Sears (1787-1871), Boston, MA [this and the following according to letter from S. Feld, Nov. 27, 1982; copy in curatorial object file]; by descent to their son, Dr. David Mason Sears, Jr. (1822-1874), Boston; to his son, Dr. Henry Francis Sears (1862-1941), Boston; to his son, Henry Sears (1913–1982) and his wife, Mary P. Sears (1908–2001; born Mary Aikman Pouch, also Mary Smithers), Greenwich, MA [according to letter from Dr. Henry F. Sears II, Aug. 11, 1987; copy in curatorial object file]. Sold to Stuart and Susan Feld, New York, by July 25, 1975 [according to letter from Page Talbott to S. Feld, July 25, 1975; copy in curatorial object file]; sold to the Art Institute, 1983.
Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300037336
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