Hap Moore’s September 26^th, 2009 auction in York, Maine, was one of those sales that could be divided neatly into two categories; “the Boston secretary,” and “everything else.”

The Boston glass door secretary may have come from the Federal period workshop of the John and Thomas Seymour. It had two attractively proportioned six-light ogive arch doors over banded inlaid cabinet doors and drawer fronts, and a Seymour-esque cubbyholed interior. New Hampshire dealer Gary Yeaton was the winning bidder at $49,450 (with buyer’s premium), underbid by Peter Eaton. Yeaton remains absolutely convinced that it came directly from the Seymour workshop. He pointed out several telling details, such as the dovetailed joinery attaching the upper section to the lower one. “The different segments, the main desk and the piece above are joined by dovetailing. Without that…if you have the doors open, it might come over on you ….that’s one of the traits.” He also pointed to the use of mahogany as the secondary wood, the curly satinwood veneers and the overall quality of the dovetailing and construction in general as typical Seymour hallmarks. He further remarked that the Seymours “used a pencil to mark a lot of his components…and this thing has that all over it.” As for the hardware, Yeaton’s opinion is that it is the original. He suggested that an early owner probably removed it to replace it with wooden counterparts. But they retained the early hardware for future use. There were additional holes to accommodate walnut knobs, but Yeaton believes the original hardware was then put back. “The posts fit so tight and so wonderfully, they had to be original. You could see the marks from the wooden knobs,” he explained, “so I decided to leave it on there. It’s great, it’s period and it’s very high quality brass.”

A consignor’s letter accompanying the secretary traced its ownership back to Andrew Wheelright, but Yeaton’s own research suggested that the original owner was probably one Josiah Wheelright, an antecedent of Andrew, and owner of Rowe’s Wharf in early nineteenth century Boston.

Underbidder Peter Eaton didn’t agree with the Seymour attribution. “I thought it was just a really good top quality Boston secretary…I would have liked to see a few more of their signature things,” he noted, suggesting that perhaps slightly better leg construction, ivory escutcheons, or a painted interior, might have pegged it more definitively to the Seymours. “I would certainly say it was Seymour School,” he conceded.

Yeaton didn’t own it for very long. He reported “I already sold it two days after I bought.” But he’s retaining it long enough to do some minor cleaning and repairs on it. “The house (of one of the previous owners) had a lot of coal burning and oil burning residue. But I could see through the grime,” he chuckled, envisioning the results such as when the dramatic satinwood would appear in its true glory. “To me, Seymour is the finest cabinet maker working in the Federal period,” Yeaton concluded, “I wouldn’t say it if I had any doubt and I don’t.”

©Maine Antique Digest

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Questions about the hardware had virtually no impact on the final outcome for this $49,450 Boston secretary. The single family provenance hearkened back to one Andrew Wheelwright, and possibly a generation or two earlier to Josiah Wheelright, both nineteenth century Boston shipping magnates. “It’s Seymour,” winning bidder Gary Yeaton stated firmly. “It’s got all the right criteria…I was surprised to get it for that. Seymour stuff is very hard to come by.” Photos courtesy Maine Antique Digest