Replies

1. 
   furnituremaker | May 16, 2007 03:38pm | #1

   I believe what you are looking for may be more commonly called a Shaker "Sewing Desk".

   There are many good books out with Shaker plans and measured drawings.

   A couple that list Shaker Sewing Desks are:

   "Authentic Shaker Furniture" by Kerry Pierce

   "Making Authentic Shaker Furniture : With Measured Drawings of Museum Classics" by John Shea

   Hope this helps

   ......Darrell

    

2. 
   JohnWW | May 16, 2007 05:07pm | #2

   A set of dimensioned plans for a stand matching your description appears in Ejner Handberg's classic "Shop Drawings of Shaker Furniture and Woodenware" Volume I, page 14.  Oddly, the plans don't give many details about the drawer construction, but they have the critical post and leg profiles drawn out clearly. 

   Many of the pieces that Handberg documented were eventually donated to the Hancock Shaker Museum so the museum may have a better set of drawings and it is quite likely that the stand could be seen there or appears in their publications.  

   There is a photograph of a two-drawer cherry sewing stand on page 151 of Christian Beckvoort's book "The Shaker Legacy" that also matches your description.  The second stand is very similar to the one in Handberg's book, but not identical.  I would suspect that they both came out of the same shop and probably were made by the same craftsman. 

   The caption gives the overall dimensions.  The basic construction is very simple and probably identical to the other stand, so you should be able to work out the finer dimensions and build the piece without detailed plans.  The piece apparently was never in a museum or public collection, so plans of that piece may not exist.

   The caption says the table was the courtesy of John Keith Russell Antiques which are credited for a number of pieces in the book.  John Keith Russell, without a reference to his business, is given thanks in the forward to the book with a comment that he lives in South Salem NY.  I would think that a bit of searching should turn up a way of contacting him for more information.

   John White, Shop Manager, Fine Woodworking Magazine