Cylinder Desk and Bookcase

Cylinder Desk and Bookcase

Duncan Phyfe

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The exacting craftsmanship, rarely seen roll-top mechanism, and first-quality woods indicate that this bookcase was certainly made by one of the finest furniture establishments in the United States. One particular feature—the spiral-fluted ellipsoids above the tapered legs—relates this cylinder desk and bookcase to a labeled Duncan Phyfe work table in the Winterthur Museum collection. The writing board is mechanically activated and moves forward as the roll-top, or cylinder, front is lifted.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.