Treasures in your attic: Victorian desk not in fashion, but cute factor ups value

Q. I’m writing to you about my desk. Someone told me that it dates from the Civil War era. Could this possibly be correct?

A. We get a lot of letters over a year’s time, and we also talk to large numbers of people at appraisal events. We have noticed during these interactions that people often tell us one of two things — that their item is either “over 200 years old” or “it is from the Civil War.” Unfortunately, in many cases, neither turns out to be true.

In this instance, your attractive and rather diminutive lady’s writing desk could not possibly be from the “Civil War era” because it was made in the Victorian Eastlake style, which was not in vogue in this country until the late 1870s or early 1880s. In fact, most Eastlake-style furniture we see was made post-1885 — some 20 years after the end of the Civil War.

A British architect, tastemaker and furniture designer, Charles Locke Eastlake (1833-1906) should not be confused with his uncle, Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, whose name is distinguished from his nephew’s only by the lack of an “e” at the end of his middle name. Charles Locke Eastlake was secretary to the Royal Institute of Architects and for 20 years keeper of the National Gallery in London.

In 1868, he published a book titled “Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details,” which was not printed in the United States until 1872. This book attempted to tell readers what was “proper,” beautiful and efficient in furniture and household design.

Eastlake wanted to foster mutual respect between beauty, functionality and good design. He had been an early proponent of the English Arts and Crafts style popularized by William Morris, but unfortunately, many U.S. furniture manufacturers corrupted Eastlake’s ideas.

There is no doubt that Eastlake would be appalled by many of the Victorian pieces that were made in his so-called style, with their severely rectangular shapes, their awkward geometric embellishments and their simplistic shallow line-incised decorations. Luckily, the desk in today’s question is undoubtedly Eastlake, with its crenelated top and its stick-and-ball gallery.

It does show a little Victorian Renaissance Revival influence in the medallion found in the center of the medial stretcher that runs between the two trestle supports. Early Eastlake furniture was primarily made from walnut, and the best pieces in this style were crafted from this wood. Later pieces (1890s to circa 1901) were made from oak, and these are often the “ugly ducklings” of this style.

When the desk’s writing surface is lifted, a fitted interior is revealed, offering storage space for stationery, envelopes and other writing supplies. Above the writing surface are areas where account books could be stored along with reference books such as a dictionary and any other tome the user might want to keep at hand.

As we have said many times in this space, Victorian furniture is currently out of fashion. But this desk is so cute that we think it should have an insurance value in the $600-$700 range.

Ÿ Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.