Lord Nelson`s Family Portable Sloping Laptop Desk

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About the Item

This desk was purchased by me at the closure of the Whitbread Archive Museum in 2001. It comes with their supplied provenance - together with several later lines of research. Included with the sale of this desk are several items "said" to have come from HMS Victory. As with all items associated with Nelson one needs to exercise a fair degree of caution. I have a number of Nelson pieces listed on 1st Dibs and I am open to offers on the entire collection. I am grateful to Julian Homer Specialist on early oak boxes for his research and report on the Nelson Desk as follows: >>>> The desk has obviously had a very interesting history, although we only know about its provenance since 1758. There is a small brass commemorative plaque inset into the back of the desk which states “Presented to Rev. Edmund Nelson, The Parsonage House, Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, by his Parishioners, 1758”. As this was the year of Horatio's birth, it was presumably a celebratory gift to Edmund on the birth of his son. The desk was not new at this time, but had been around for about 100 years before then. It is, in fact, a nice example of a mid-17th century table box or desk. It is 17" long by 13.5" deep by 9.25" tall and on the smaller side of average for this type of desk. It has a rich brown colour with a good patina. As one would expect, it is in oak, the favoured wood for such items. Distant relatives of this type of desk can be seen in 14th and 15th century manuscripts. Beautifully carved, inlaid and painted examples would have been in common use amongst the well off during the 16th century, whether they were for ecclesiastical or secular use. By the 17th century, when reading and writing was more prevalent within the household and the use of travelling scribes was on the wane, this type of writing desk must have been much more common. Most surviving examples encountered nowadays came from firmly within the 17th, century. This example is fairly typical in that it has a carved front panel with an S scroll design. This design has been used in different forms over the years and can be interpreted in many ways by the carver's ingenuity. There are partitions inside the desk to hold four drawers and a pen shelf on top. The pen shelf has a raised front to it, which is nailed in place with its four original faceted iron nails to stop pens, etc., rolling off into the box. The drawers are missing, but this is often the case. The same punch, a 16-point tool, has been used sparingly on the front panels, too, along with a simple C punch. The channelled moulding around the three sides of the base is original and was fixed with wooden dowels, as some evidence of these remain. The basic construction is nailed with the front panel rebated onto the carcass. The base and back are also original. At some time in the desk's life, it has undergone a few minor modifications. I would suggest that these were carried out in two phases. Although the desk was old at the time it was presented, the donors no doubt, would have liked to make their gift presentable. The desk has good quality hand-forged butterfly hinges but they are not the original ones, nor is the book rest at the bottom edge of the slope or the small similar moulding around three sides of the top. It may well have still had its original hasp and lock as many survive today with these features. The original hasp and lock and key have been replaced with an ingenious wooden peg and latch device to close the lid firmly. The peg is fixed in a stationary position and the latch swivels to contain the peg. Anyone with knowledge of hasps, locks and keys will know that they form a rather noisy, wobbly form of closure and as most keys are lost, without this the system is completely ineffective. The second feature introduced is the flat panel which slides vertically into place at the front of the drawer spaces and shelf and is held in position by two swivelling lugs which slot into grooves cut into the sides of the desk. Although some boxes do have the occasional sliding partition, it is usually not obvious, as its purpose was to cover up a hidden space for secrecy. This is obviously not the case here, but more than likely a preventative measure (as the drawers are missing) to stop the contents of the box rolling all over the place when travelling. In its own right, this little desk is quite an interesting survival from the mid-17th century and, with its Nelson connections, fairly obviously established, it must be of quite some historical importance. By J.P.J. Homer.

Dimensions:
Height: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)Width: 17 in (43.18 cm)Depth: 13.5 in (34.29 cm)
Style:
Georgian (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Oak,Hand-Carved,Woodwork
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
Early 18th Century
Date of Manufacture:
1710
Condition:
Reupholstered. Replacements made: Hinges and hasp were replaced at some point. Wear consistent with age and use. The leather writing surface has likely to have been changed.
Seller Location:
Dorking, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU8802234858042

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