Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Desk with Animals and Decoration
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This seven-drawer miniature writing desk is known as a "teremok" (small tower) cabinet. Flat walrus-ivory and bone plaques, some of which have been stained moss green, are affixed by nails to the cabinet's front and sides, and to the fronts of the three interior drawers. Their surface is busily decorated with circle motifs and colored black. Twelve thicker plaques carved with rocaille floral openwork decoration typical of the mid 18th century north Russian School have been set over mica sheets on the exterior drawer fronts, sides, and top. The two largest of these plaques are set into the sloping drop-front. They include, on the right, a lion, and on the left a doe and swooping bird, within the stylized floral matrix. Several of the plaques are chipped or cracked.
On the back on a paper tag is written: "130;" engraved on the bottom of the left front foot is the date "1812."
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
[Scandinavia]; William T. / Henry Walters Collection, Baltimore [date of acquisition unknown], by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 1988-1989 | A Millennium of Christianity: Russian Art from The Walters Art Gallery. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1959-1960 | Russian Art: Icons and Decorative Arts from the Origin to the Twentieth Century. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 9/18/1951 | Treatment | cleaned |
| 7/20/1959 | Examination | examined for exhibition |
Geographies
Russia (Place of Origin)
Measurements
11 5/8 x 9 13/16 x 4 5/16 in. (29.5 x 25 x 11 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by William T. or Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.429