DESK

Although it is not signed or stamped, the desk made by Thomas White of northeastern North Carolina is documented in the account book of the merchant and planter Thomas Newby (d. 1793) of Perquimans County, North Carolina.  In 1765, Newby purchased the desk, valued at twelve pounds North Carolina currency, from Thomas White. With vase and floral carving, the desk’s fifth foot is distinctive and related to known southeastern Virginia examples, while its three-shell interior resembles desks made by the Newport, Rhode Island, cabinetmaker John Goddard (1723-1785).

Both Thomas White and Thomas Newby were Quakers. The two men were influential members of the Quaker community that flourished in northeastern North Carolina during the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries and maintained strong ties to their Pennsylvania and New England brethren. Newport Quakers included John Goddard and his cabinetmaking kinsmen in the Goddard and Townsend families. Thomas White worked in a predominantly rural area of the early South.  Nevertheless, his furniture was remarkably sophisticated and reflects the presence of outside influences.