John Marshall Portable Writing Desk

I built this reproduction with the incredibly generous assistance of Catherine Dean, Curator of the John Marshall House Museum in Richmond, VA. She allowed me to photograph, measure, and draw the desk that is on display in the Marshall's bedroom.

The desk is mostly mahogany with cherry and oak secondary. The pencil tray in the center of the desk is ebony. The original is all mahagony with an ebonized pencil tray.

The last photo is the original that belonged to John Marshall, third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It is believed that he took this desk with him on a mission to France in 1797.