https://cds.library.brown.edu/NBHouse/files/original/4a6f06b7607a07db773c4ba6689c89b7.jpg 11c1bd909e9acfdfb9254c99d7e7a64b https://cds.library.brown.edu/NBHouse/files/original/d12b8640d2f72a0f65eaa147238b8e28.jpg bf8cba8242b8728b89d24422a471bb25 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Photograph of Kneehole Desk (July 2016) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Banks III, Jesse Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital copy created by the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2016-07-28 Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jennifer Shook Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Rights Status Not Evaluated Description An account of the resource For a short period before the Revolutionary War, Newport, Rhode Island, became a booming center for decorative arts. Furniture produced during this period, c. 1760-1775, is highly valued today, especially when associated with the Goddards and Townsends, two families of skilled craftsmen joined by marriage, religion, and proximity within a small section of Newport. Furniture made in Newport during this period is often referred to as “Goddard-Townsend.” Like the tall secretary desk, this kneehole desk is a fine example of expert Newport block-front cabinetmaking, a style adopted from furniture makers in Massachusetts. The traditional block-front (fashionable in the colonies between 1740-1790) consisted of a three panel design—two raised block panels surrounding a center recessed panel. Because block-front furniture required more wood and labor than other forms, and was therefore more expensive, it became a kind of colonial status symbol. Newport furniture is differentiated from other colonial block-fronts by the expertly carved ornate shells that skilled furniture-makers incorporated into the design. With their block and shell fronts, slight overhang with a molded edge around the top, and ogee feet at the bottom, Goddard-Townsend kneehole desks present little variation, although this desk is one of few to feature a writing compartment. The recessed “kneehole” that gives the desk its name is noticeably small, lending to varied scholarship that suggests people either used these desks more often for storage than as a traditional writing surface, or that they were made specifically for women’s smaller knees. The Browns themselves appear to have used the kneehole desk more as a storage unit than as a writing surface. In their records, they refer to it variously as a “bureau,” “dressing table,” or “chest of drawers” rather than as a “desk.” Personally, I’m partial to the belief that kneeholes like this one were crafted for a storage function rather than to serve as a traditional desk. I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone, except maybe a child, whose knees would fit comfortably in the recessed kneehole compartment.