This was one of the first pieces I acquired that I truly fell in love with that I had to have. The tall French feet give this piece dramatic presence and stature. This was a masterpiece, a lady or rather a superwoman.
I found it at the Levy Galleries over 35 years ago, and it was the most expensive piece for me to digest, but what would I expect for a masterpiece they didn’t want to part with without a pound of flesh. This piece was previously held by C.W. Lyons, Inc.–a notable New York dealer at 2 W. 56th St.–and was advertised in Antiques Magazine by Lyons in January, 1952.
Years later, Robert Mussey, the eminent authority on John and Thomas Seymour, paid me a visit to view my collection and chose two pieces for his exhibition, it this secretary and an elegant bureau, both of which are illustrated in his book The Furniture Masterworks of John and Thomas Seymour p.184-5. As Robert states:
“Of the relatively few surviving secretaries with bookcases by the Seymour’s with cylinder fronts, this one is the most commanding. It is fully 8 feet in height and stands on extraordinarily tall French feet over 12 inches. The entire façade is veneered with a variety of richly grained mahogany, including one with mottled bee’s wing figure on the cylinder. Rosewood crossbanding frames the drawers, the lower panel drawers, and the corner tablet”
Typical for the Seymours is the use of ivory lined keyholes throughout, with an unusual one locking the main cylinder composed with ivory inlay in the form of a vase with a ball finial. I remember asking Bernard Levy, Dean Levy’s father, (Frank is his grandfather) why there was old shellac over it and why it wasn’t cleaned. I remember him saying that it was to show it wasn’t installed later, and opened my eyes toward fakery in the antique business. Bernard lived a long life and I remember him and his wife Laura who always greeted us warmly. This was a time when Dean was building his collection, trying to sell, and I was trying to bite into a piece of it. Their annual catalogs were always looked forward to.
It took a very experienced cabinetmaker to make the cylinder as they had counterweights that were difficult to install but which made the lid open effortlessly, consequently, few of these “elitist” federal pieces were made. The closest to our example appeared in: Wallace Nutting’s Furniture Treasury, Vol.1 no.728 and The Collection of Benjamin Flayderman, Boston, Anderson Galleries sales catalogue, April 17/18, 1931.
Needless to say close to 40 years ago, I set a high standard for myself and I was lucky that there was one gallery, the Levy’s, that set the stage in emphasis on Classical furniture in their collection, parts of which which I subsequently acquired from them, before I could try to beat them at them at their own game. Dean had to sell to eat, and I was a collector with somewhat of a checkbook and independent means, ergo: the dealer vs. the collector. The Levy’s, through their grandson Frank, continued with a great outreach and are now doing antique shows. Nevertheless, New York was the primary center of the antique business in the winter with various shows and auctions. Also, through the years, many for one reason or another had business in New York, and what a nice respite to then stop at one of the many galleries for something special.
Height: 91 1/2 in. Width: 42 in. Depth: 22 3/4 in.
Revised Jul 19, 2025, 3:56 PM