The Nathan Sharples Black Walnut Desk and Later Bookcase, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Circa 1740

The desk side bears a brass plate inscribed, "Nathan Sharples 1715 1755," and drawer interior with hand-written note, "Desk Story/ I give to my son William my Black Walnut desk 1755 5 Mo. 10th/ Nathan Sharples/ Appraisement of William Sharpless $8 Desk 1817 11mo. 24/ Desk was at Homestead until 1884 / when it was sent by Philip P. Sharples to Nathan N. Sharples Phila./ At his death in 1903-7-8 it was returned by his/ widow Fanny White Sharpless to the Homestead./ Bookcase was added by William Sharpless (1715-1817)/ A.D., Sharpless."; the bookcase bears a brass plate inscribed, "Martha Sharples 1783-1852."

H: 43 in. W: 39 in. D: 22 3/4 in. (desk only), H: 44 1/2 in. W: 38 1/2 in. D: 12 1/2 in. (bookcase only)

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Provenance:

Nathan Sharples (1715-1755), to his son

William Sharples (1752-1817), to his son Nathan Hunt Sharples (1779-1838), to his son Philip Price Sharples (1810-1903).

The desk remained in the Sharples Homestead in West Chester until the 1980's.

Note:

The will of Nathan Sharpless (1715-1755) of Goshen, Chester County, Pennsylvania, bequested this desk, along with his silver watch, to his son, William (1752-1817). William later built the Sharples Homestead at 22 Dean Street, West Chester. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This lot is accompanied by a period 2 ft. long wood ruler, found inside the desk, which may have been used by the Sharples Family.

Historic surface; slant top with age crack; discoloration to interior writing surface, missing prospect door and one pigeon hole divider; some interior desk drawers missing pulls; desk sides with vertical age cracks; base with scuffs and wear; rear right foot missing facing. wear to surface commensurate with age.

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Please email ataggart@freemansauction.com for any additional information or questions you may have regarding this lot.

Lynda Cain

VP, Head of Department, American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

lyndacain@freemansauction.com 267.414.1237

Lynda Cain serves as a Vice President of Freeman's and is the Head of Department for American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts.
She specializes in American furniture and decorative arts, Native American art, American folk art, and Pennsylvania furniture and decorative arts.
Cain joined Freeman's in 2001 as the company's first American furniture and decorative arts specialist. She began her career in American Decorative Arts as assistant curator at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1984 she became curator of costume at the Detroit Historical Museum. In 1986, she relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts and switched from museum work when she joined the American Furniture and Decorative Art Department at Skinner Inc., Bolton and Boston, Massachusetts. Before leaving New England in 1997, she had the great pleasure of directing the cataloguing project of the Folk Art Collection of Nine Fletcher and Bertram K. Little at Cogswell’s Grant, Essex, Massachusetts for the Society of the Preservation of New England Antiquities, now Historic New England. Ms. Cain joined the cast of the popular PBS series Antiques Roadshow in Season 19.
Growing up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, she was greatly influenced by the rich collections of American paintings, furniture, and decorative arts held by Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum. She notes her good fortune of working in our two great “attic states:” Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Each Commonwealth has tremendous inventory of historic material, great institutions, and citizens who treasure their inherited and collected items. Cain appears on the television Antiques Roadshow as an appraiser of decorative and folk arts.

Andrew Taggart

Associate Vice President, Specialist, American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

andrewtaggart@freemansauction.com 267.414.1225

American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

The Nathan Sharples Black Walnut Desk and Later Bookcase, Southeastern Pennsylvania, Circa 1740

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