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Object Timeline
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1913 |
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1996 |
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1997 |
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2013 |
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2025 |
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Desk / Cabinet (Belgium)
This is a Desk / cabinet. It was designed by Eleanor Mabel Sarton. It is dated 1913 and we acquired it in 1996. Its medium is various woods, mother-of-pearl, ivory, silk. It is a part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts department.
This writing desk's design, production, and use hold equal fascination. Eleanor Mabel Sarton, born in England, designed the desk—which has a mix of Belgian, French, and Austrian influences—as part of a suite of furniture while working for a Brussels interior design firm. Its cabinetwork was executed in Belgium and the marquetry in Bavaria, and it was exhibited in a showroom at the 1913 Ghent (Belgium) exposition. Shortly after, in 1915, the designer, her husband, the historian George Sarton, and their young daughter, May (who would become a well-known poet and author), left war-torn Europe for the United States. After the war ended, George purchased the desk and it stayed in the family until May’s death in the 1990s. May, who spoke lovingly of her mother’s furniture designs, wrote that the desk was akin to a jewel. Mabel Sarton, however, did not emphasize preciousness in her work, but practicality, beauty, and comfort; her use of rich woods, ivory, and mother-of-pearl shows an appreciation of materials and a simple, clean form. She called furniture like this desk, with details inside and out, folding doors and secret drawers hiding "necessary but unbeautiful" goods "surprise furniture."
This object was featured in our Object of the Week series in a post titled A Cabinet of Surprises.
This object was
bequest of
Eleanor May Sarton.
It is credited Bequest of Eleanor May Sarton.
- Cabinet on Stand Cabinet
- oak, walnut, softwood, bone, brass (alloy).
- Bequest of Mrs. John Innes Kane.
- 1926-22-43
- Drawing, Design for a Radio
- graphite, brown, white, yellow color pencil on tracing paper.
- Gift of John Bruce.
- 1993-65-16
- Two-Handled Vase Vase
- porcelain, vitreous enamel.
- Gift of Arthur Altschul.
- 1994-117-2
Its dimensions are
H x W x D: 125.1 x 135.2 x 52.2cm (49 1/4 x 53 1/4 x 20 9/16in.)
Cite this object as
Desk / Cabinet (Belgium); Designed by Eleanor Mabel Sarton (English, 1878–1950); various woods, mother-of-pearl, ivory, silk; H x W x D: 125.1 x 135.2 x 52.2cm (49 1/4 x 53 1/4 x 20 9/16in.); Bequest of Eleanor May Sarton; 1996-9-1
