A Federal Inlaid Mahogany Secretary Desk

North Shore, Massachusetts, Circa 1800-1810

in two parts, the upper section with shaped cornice having three brass ball-and-steeple or ball-and-eagle finials, over two glazed doors revealing an adjustable shelf over shelf with compartments beneath, the lower section with flip-top writing surface having green baize, above four graduated drawers flanked by inlaid stiles with bellflowers on tapered legs.

Height 76 3/4 x width 40 3/4 x depth 21 inches.

Property from the Estate of Helen Elliot Scott (1928-2024)

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Note:

Born in Boston in 1928, Helen (Gay) Scott, nee Elliot, was a pianist, piano teacher, mother of three and grandmother of seven. She studied piano at the Longy School of Music, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later at the Royal College of Music and Trinity College of Music, 1969-1973, while living in London where her husband was special assistant to Walter Annenberg, the American ambassador to the Court of St. James. Married for 42 years to Robert Montgomery Scott (1929-2005), President and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 1982-1996, Helen served on the board of the Curtis Institute of Music, taught piano at the Settlement Music School, and privately into her nineties. She was an alumna of the Shady Hill School, the Foxcroft School and Radcliffe College.