From collection Furniture
Desk
An important document and a rare signed example of Long Island furniture, this desk was made by Thomas Cooper, the brother of carpenter-joiner Caleb Cooper of Southampton. A prospect door on the interior is playfully fashioned as a face with two paper “eyes” under glass. Copper signed his name and the date of August 1770 in the area surrounding the pupil of the eye on the right. The eye on the left is inscribed “Thomas Helme Esquire.” The inlaid initials on the lid are for the patron, Thomas Helme (1728–1818) of Miller Place. Helme was a prominent member of the community, holding several public offices and serving as secretary of the committee of safety during the American Revolution. Thomas Cooper apparently moved to Miller Place in the late 1760s. According to local tradition, he died there in 1774 following an injury sustained from a fall during the construction of a barn.
