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Walter Desk

A wooden desk with elaborate carvings, with the interior side facing the viewer. The carvings include stars, curls, a lattice, and a shield with stars and stripes. The top has green felt. A drawer has two knobs and a lock. Below is a shelf./tiles/collection/6/6586.xml
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A wooden desk with elaborate carvings, with the exterior side facing the viewer. The carvings include stars, curls, a lattice, and a shield with stars and stripes./tiles/collection/6/6587.xml
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Closeup of the carvings on the exterior of the desk, including a shield with three stars and stripes, and a globe covered by a ribbon reading “America”/tiles/collection/6/6588.xml
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A wooden chair with casters and a wooden desk, both elaborately carved/tiles/collection/6/6589.xml
Download this image
A wooden desk with elaborate carvings, with the interior side facing the viewer. The carvings include stars, curls, a lattice, and a shield with stars and stripes. The top has green felt. A drawer has two knobs and a lock. Below is a shelf.
A wooden desk with elaborate carvings, with the exterior side facing the viewer. The carvings include stars, curls, a lattice, and a shield with stars and stripes.
Closeup of the carvings on the exterior of the desk, including a shield with three stars and stripes, and a globe covered by a ribbon reading “America”
A wooden chair with casters and a wooden desk, both elaborately carved
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Date

1857

Artist

Thomas Ustick Walter

Manufacturer

Doe, Hazelton Company

Dimensions

35 1/2 x 29 1/2 x 21 in. (90.2 x 74.9 x 53.3 cm)

Accession Number

2006.019.000

Credit Line

Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives

Object Details

When the House's new Chamber opened in 1857, it boasted 262 desks in the latest Renaissance Revival fashion. The Doe, Hazelton Company of Boston made the desks according to Architect of the Capitol Thomas U. Walter's elaborate design. Function was an important consideration, as well. Wooden inkwells with cloth-lined lids were prescribed, rather than noisy metal versions. The inkwell itself was sunken into the desk so that it could not be taken by "prying messengers and pages."

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Walter Chair
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House Chamber 1857–1950: Furniture
House Chamber 1857–1950: Furniture
Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov