Monroe Doctrine Desk II circa 1795
The secrétaire à abbatant or fall front desk in the first image is nearly identical to the desk 5th President James Monroe brought back from France in 1797 (second image). These desks are elegant examples of the popular style during the last decade of the 18th century.
The dimensions are practically identical, although the feet on the Myers & Monroe desk are of a slightly different form. Each desk features a white marble top surrounded by a brass gallery, and the brass ornamentation framing the Cuban mahogany veneered sides is distributed in the same fashion. The side posts are adorned with brass fluting, and the top drawers, writing tables, and bottom drawers lock with a trefoil key (a sophisticated mechanism found on high quality pieces of the time).
James Monroe was sent to Paris by the Washing- ton Administration to allay French suspicions while John Jay was working out a treaty with England in London. The Monroes were liked in France and Mrs. Monroe later described their time there as the happiest years of their life. One can imagine that the Monroes were content to return to America with a few reminders of the early morning candlelit dinners and lively con- versation he enjoyed in Paris as a host. Further- more, Monroe’s father practiced carpentry, and this probably increased the ambassador’s sensi- tivity to the quality of furniture he encountered while in France. His fall front desk was part of a set that includes a commode, a side table, and a round table in the same style that was first used to furnish his Parisian residence. The style is one emblematic of the late Louis XVI period, featur- ing stunning amounts of polished brass.
The Monroe Doctrine Desk, is known for having been the drawing board for the Monroe Doctrine which set the tone of American foreign policy ever since. When Monroe’s great grandson purportedly broke the writing surface centuries after Monroe’s death, a secret compartment was discovered containing letters between the President and various figures of the American revolution i.e. Franklin, Lafayette, and Washington.
H: 56.5 inches L: 36 inches D: 14.5 inches
Myers & Monroe, LLC