A Wooton Desk Primer
Critics of Blackberrys and text messaging need to keep in mind that mankind's quest for organization and our related quest for noticeable busyness have been part of our lives for most of human existence. A quick inventory of antique furniture desks will turn up various innovations planned to raise efficiency and persuade everyone in the office that the owner is amazingly hard at it. Five or six generations ago, the Wooton desk was the energetic capitalist's instrument of choice for both corralling a deluge of forms and impressing his friends.
From 1870 to 1891, The Wooton Desk Company operated in Indianapolis, a Victorian era furniture making city. William S. Wooton was the organization founder and the designer of the Wooton Desk and also the patent recipient for that specific pattern. In 1876, Wooton’s Desks were included at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, and turned out to be an immediate hit with America’s barons of enterprise and finance, such as Joseph Pulitzer and Joseph Scribner. Presidents Grant, Garfield and Harrison also utilized Wooton’s desks, and you can visualize the upheaval from British furniture designers when in 1876 a British newspaper posted a photo of Queen Victoria working at her Wooten desk.
While William Wooton actually patented a pair of desk designs, the model that the majority of American home furniture enthusiasts will identify is the type sold as “Wooton’s Patent Cabinet Office Secretary”. It was usually a large, vertical piece which, when folded closed, was similar to a particularly decorative cabinet. Once opened, however, the purpose of this desk was extremely visible. Two massive doors were made to rotate open on brass hinges to expose cubby holes and shelves of diverse measurements on the left door, and an array of pigeon holes on the right door. The center part of Wooton's desk incorporated a drop down writing surface and the now-expected selection of shelves and pigeon holes. Overall, a Wooton desk had 110 compartments chiefly meant for organizing records of all sizes.
The outside of a Wooton desk was normally constructed of black walnut wood and had gold leaf accents wherever feasible. The left and right doors had a heavy brass handle and a brass plaque, one with Wooton’s name on it and the other with the desk patent date. The interiors were made of other woods, such as maple which were lighter colored and presented a an attractive contrast.
When searching for black living room furniture, if you are lucky enough to encounter one of Wooten’s masterpieces, make certain to do a little investigating. The prices that these desks might command will vary widely, from $250,000 to five or six thousand, determined by where you acquire it, what shape it is in, and who used to own it. One of the exciting parts of getting a Wooton desk is that some were just as significant for their famous owners as for the excellence of the desk itself.
