Beschreibung:

American (Kentucky), early 19th century. A two-piece secretary bookcase in cherry with walnut and poplar secondaries, the upper case having a molded cornice, canted corners decorated with vine and leaf inlay, over two paneled doors with banding inlay and interior shelving, the lower case having an inlay decorated slant front lid with central initials I. S. and vine and leaf floral perimeter, opening to a fitted desk interior consisting of a central star inlaid prospect door with tambour slide concealing secret drawers, six valanced pigeon holes over six fitted drawers with banding inlay, over four graduated banding inlay drawers and brass pulls, flanked by vine and leaf canted corners, chevron checkered inlaid apron with central motif rising on splayed French feet; ht. 83.5, wd. 41.25, dp. 20.5 in. The Isaac Shelby Desk and Bookcase This desk and bookcase have a long, and interesting history. Much of its provenance is documented in newspaper clippings and photographs from the 1920s and 1930s and in oral history passed along by the consignor and his ancestors. The desk has remained in the same Kentucky family since. Virtually from the moment it was purchased at auction in Shelbyville, Kentucky sometime between 1886 and 1907, the piece has been known as the desk of Kentucky’s first, and fifth governor, Isaac Shelby (1750-1826). While the shop in which this was made has not been identified, it probably belongs to a small group of furniture made in Boyle, Mercer, Lincoln and Casey counties of Kentucky which incorporate initials in conspicuous places. Kentucky scholar Mack Cox has so far identified two distinct shops that probably made this furniture, though the "IS desk is not a member of either, but as more examples crop up I expect to define more shop groups. The vine & dot inlay on the IS desk does occur in Kentucky and I do believe the desk is of Kentucky origins" (Personal Communication, January 3, 2018). History of the Desk and Bookcase From a historical standpoint, the first reference to the desk appears in an October 30, 1931 story published in the Louisville, Kentucky Herald Post. According to the article, the desk was purchased in Shelbyville, Kentucky by Malguoire L. DuBourg for a half dollar “at a sale of the effects of a Captain Johnson….some fifty years ago.” DuBourg was born in Louisville, and moved to Shelby County in 1886 working first as a farmer, and then later, as a florist. He returned to Louisville in 1907 where he died. The dates of Dubourg’s residence in Shelbyville (1886-1907) provide a terminus a quo for the initial acquisition of the desk and bookcase, and the information that it was purchased from the “effects of a Captain Johnson” gives a starting point to understand the provenance of the desk. An attempt to track down “Captain Johnson” has yielded tantalizing, but inconclusive evidence regarding the original owner of the desk. A search of military records of Union and Confederate Civil War veterans from Shelby County, found a single possible candidate for the elusive “Captain Johnson.” James W. Johnson (1828-1913), served as Captain of Company E, 1st Kentucky Cavalry. His death and obituary was recorded in 1913 in The United Confederate, Vol XXII, pg. 136, with the following information: Johnson was a native of Shelby County, Kentucky, and lived for more than 80 years in that location. In 1907 he moved to Guthrie, Oklahoma to be nearer to his son. At his death, his body was returned to Shelbyville, where he is buried in Grove Hill Cemetery (his tombstone erroneously spells his last name “Johnston”). Federal Census records show that Johnson lived virtually all of his life in Shelby County, married Elizabeth Jane Webb, and had three children. In 1910, the census records the 82 year old Johnson as living in Guthrie, Oklahoma. These same data make it clear, however, that Johnson was not a member of the Shelby County aristocracy, nor was his wife. At this point, Johnson may be the “Captain” who owned the d