Today At Monticello
-
66°
Isolated Showers
-
Sat
69°
/
43°
-
Sun
73°
/
48°
-
Mem
76°
/
53°
-
Tue
80°
/
59°
Today’s Hours
Gates open from 8:30 am to 6 pm
Artist/Maker: Unspecified[1]
Created: c. 1810
Origin/Purchase: Monticello Joinery
Materials: mahogany and pine
Dimensions: 77.5 x 92.7 x 50.8 (30 1/2 x 36 1/2 x 20 in.)
Location: North Octagonal Room
Provenance: Thomas Jefferson; by gift to William A. Burwell; by descent to Frances Steptoe Todd; by purchase to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation in 1947
Accession Number: 1947-4
Historical Notes: This very modest and unadorned desk is said to have been a gift for William A. Burwell, the younger man who served as Jefferson's secretary for the later part of his first term as president. The desk, attributed to the Monticello joinery, has straight, tapering legs, and two hinged surfaces. The first hinged surface exposes a writing surface with a scratch-beaded edge, and the second reveals an area for storage.
- Text from Stein, Worlds, 291.