I acquired this secretary 35 years ago, just prior to my acquisition of a similar cylinder lid secretary by Thomas Seymour, (item sw00857 in our collection). The cylinder top secretaries are the rarest of the federal, early Classical secretaries of Hepplewhite design. They are rare because they are complex in their construction, which entails the inclusion of counterweights for the cylinder to operate smoothly and without great effort. Accordingly, they were expensive and took a cabinetmaker of great skill.
Prior to my acquisition of this secretary at Christie’s, I knew of its existence as it was illustrated in Antiques Magazine in March, 1982 by Thomas G.Schwenke. Tom was a dedicated dealer, now auctioneer, that specialized in what he called”Fed Furniture”. I know he was very dedicated to this piece and never quite wanted to let it go.
This Salem secretary is attributed probably to William Hook c.1800/1810 by a parallel ring motif detail that is indicative of his work. Contrary to pediments which were becoming flattened, this secretary has an upswept pediment with applied panels and was designed to accommodate finials. The uppercase has Gothic shaped glass doors with verre eglomise panels separately below.
An almost identical secretary had appeared in Sotheby’s January 1992 and had a Ginsburg and Levy provenance. This secretary, however, did not have the cylinder arrangement but was constructed with a simple hinged writing flap. Interestingly, theirs–like ours–has one replaced eglomise panel. In natural room light, the replacement is generally not perceivable; it was not a dealbreaker for acquisition given the absolute rarity of this form.
This Salem secretary shows there were other cabinetmakers competing against each other at the highest level. Personally, I feel the Seymour example is of finer detail in its use of complex moldings. However, all things equal, the use of eglomise panels found this secretary easily into our collection. The case itself had no alterations or replacement. It is a treat putting these together side-by-side and seeing one man’s work against another, like comparing a Stradivarius violin to a Guanerius, both great masterpieces and used by top performers.
Height: 94 in. Width: 40 in.
Revised Aug 19, 2025, 2:58 PM