A bookcase owned by J.J. Gilbert, Esq., of Baltimore, is shown in Illustration 111. It is made after Chippendale designs, and is richly carved. The base and feet are very elaborate, and the cornice and pediment, are wonderfully fine. The broken arch has delicate sprays of carved wood, projecting beyond the edge, and laid over the open fretwork, and the crowning ornament in the centre is a carved urn with a large spray of flowers. The ornaments and mouldings separating the sections of glass in the doors are as fine as the other rich carving upon this bookcase. A wonderful Hepplewhite bookcase is shown in Illustration 112. It is owned by George W. Holmes, Esq., of Charleston, South Carolina, and carries with it an impression of the wealth and luxury in Charleston, before the Civil War and the other disasters that befell that city in the latter half of the nineteenth century. [Illustration: Illus. 112.—Hepplewhite Bookcase, 1789.] This bookcase is nearly nine feet in length, and is made of unusually fine mahogany. The lower part is designed in a series of curves which prevents the plain look that a straight front would give in such length. The doors form one curve and a part of the other two, which are completed by the drawers at each side; a skilful management of a long space. The curves at the top of the pediment follow the same lines, and the bookcase was evidently designed by a master hand. It was probably brought from England, together with a secretary to match it. Above the doors and drawers, shelves pull out, on which to rest books. A fine line of holly runs around each door and drawer, with a star inlaid at the corners of the doors, while a very beautiful design is inlaid in light and dark woods, in the space on the pediment, which is finished with the broken arch, of the high, slender type, with carved rosettes. The centre ornament, between the rosettes, is a basket of flowers carved in wood. [Illustration: Illus. 113.—Maple Desk, about 1795.] After the publication of the designs of Shearer, Hepplewhite, and Sheraton, the heavy desks were superseded by those of lighter design, and the slant-top bureau desk was seldom made after 1790. Sheraton says: “Bureau in France is a small chest of drawers. It has generally been applied to common desks with drawers made under them. These pieces of furniture are nearly obsolete in London.” Slant-top desks do not appear in cabinet-makers’ books published after 1800, and it is safe to assign a date previous to the nineteenth century to any such desk. [Illustration: Illus. 114.—Hepplewhite Desk, Cabinet Top, 1790.]