Kentucky Collection

Sugar Desk, about 1820
Cherry, primary wood; tulip poplar, secondary wood
Made in the Bourbon County, Kentucky, area
Gift of Mrs. Hattie Bishop Speed, by exchange 1994.1

Although this piece looks like a slant-topped writing desk, it was actually made for the storage and safekeeping of sugar. Sugar, which was at one time sold in the form of large loaves or cones, was an expensive commodity in early-nineteenth-century Kentucky. Brought inland by river from New Orleans and the West Indies, it was often kept under lock and key. This practice subsequently provided the impetus for new furniture forms. The sugar chest and the more rare sugar desk seem to have been primarily used in prosperous Kentucky and Tennessee households. In this example, the sugar was stored in the bin in the body of the desk, which is covered by a sliding lid. The desk’s serpentine drawers, which are hidden when the writing surface is closed, probably held spices. The desk descended in the Talbott family of Bourbon County. A valued piece of cabinetry, replete with graceful splayed feet and subtle inlay, it was listed in family wills as early as 1828.