Desk and Bookcase, ca. 1750
Carving attributed to John Welch
Boston, Massachusetts
Mahogany and white pine
Lent by the Chipstone Foundation  1991.10

It may be imagined that the greatest part of the effects of beauty results from the symmetry of parts in the object, which is beautiful. But I am very well persuaded that this prevailing notion will soon appear to have little or no foundation.
  —William Hogarth, 1753

The desk and bookcase seen here is among the most sophisticated pieces of Palladian-style furniture made in the American colonies. Its fluted pilasters, carved capitals, and broken scroll pediment reflect the rules of ancient Roman architecture, which the Italian architect Andrea Palladio revived and made popular throughout Europe in the sixteenth century.