Exploring the Symbolysm of the Desk

Art, Literature, Astronomy, Surveying, and Leadership

Carved by Luigi Frullini Italian Renaissance Carved Secretary, Florence, c. 1870, this drop-down gentleman’s desk presents with exquisitely carved panels and borders of flowers, leaves and conventional figures.

On the main panel are four doves in flight. A dove with outstretched wings surmounts a dial face above the secretary, about which are delicately carved branches of oak and laurel. A substantial classically-inspired pedestal base gives rise to a central desk panel featuring four doves mid-flight amongst a low relief field of delicately carved flowers and insects and framed in a band of foliage.

Columns delicately encircled with ivy are topped by two busts of Italian masters representing art (Raphael, right) and literature (Dante, left). The portraits in turn flank a central frieze of cherubs in a woodland setting engaging in the four central themes of the secretary, from left to right: art, literature, astronomy, and surveying. Recessed bookshelves on either side of the central desk are flanked by pilasters in floral and arabesque relief, flaunting smaller panels featuring emblems of art (brushes and palette) and literature (parchment and quills). The top of the mantle similarly boasts panels symbolizing astronomy and surveying: a telescope and globe motif entwined in olive branches flanked by ornately carved supports lead to a clock face with central medallion containing a draftsman’s square, compass, ruler, and hourglass. An informal fifth theme of leadership crowns the structure as an alighting dove above the clock face is supported by gracefully arching branches of laurel and oak, representing glory and heroism.