Illustration 113 shows the latest type of a slant-top desk, made in 1790-1795. The frame is of maple, the drawers being of curly maple edged with ebony. The lid is of curly maple framed in bird’s-eye maple with ebony lines, and in the centre is a star made of mahogany and ebony. The small drawers inside are of bird’s-eye maple, three of the drawers having an ebony and mahogany star. The base is what Hepplewhite calls a French base, and the desk, which measures only thirty-six inches in length, is a good example of the artistic use of the different varieties of maple with their golden hues. This desk belongs to the writer. Illustration 114 shows a Hepplewhite desk with cabinet top owned by the writer, and made about 1790. The drawers are veneered with satinwood, with a row of fine inlaying of holly and ebony around each drawer front. The base is after Hepplewhite’s design, and has a row of ebony and holly inlaying across it. The slightly slanting lid turns back and rests upon two pulls to form a writing-table. The pigeonholes and small drawers are behind the glass doors, which are made like two Gothic arches, with three little pillars, and panels of satinwood between the bases of the pillars. The pediment at the top of the cabinet is quite characteristic of the period. Illustration 115 shows a charming little Sheraton desk owned by W. S. G. Kennedy, Esq., of Worcester. It is made of bird’s-eye maple with trimming of mahogany veneer, and a row of ebony and holly inlaying below the drawers. The upper part has one maple door in the centre, with a tambour door of mahogany at each side, behind which are pigeonholes and small drawers. [Illustration: Illus. 115.—Sheraton Desk, 1795.] The lid shuts back upon itself, and, when open, rests upon the two pulls at each side of the upper drawer. The wood of this desk is beautifully marked, and the whole effect is very light and well adapted to a lady’s use. [Illustration: Illus. 116.—Tambour Secretary, about 1800.] The word “tambour” is thus defined by Sheraton: “Tambour tables among cabinet-makers are of two sorts; one for a lady or gentleman to write at, and another for the former to execute needlework by. The Writing Tambour Tables are almost out of use at present, being both insecure and liable to injury. They are called Tambour from the cylindrical forms of their tops, which are glued up in narrow strips of mahogany and laid upon canvas, which binds them together, and suffers them at the same time to yield to the motion that their ends make in the curved groove in which they run. Tambour tables are often introduced in small pieces where no strength or security is desired.” In his will, George Washington left to Dr. Craik “my beaureau (or as cabinet-makers call it, tambour secretary).” Illustration 116 shows what might be called a tambour secretary. It is made of mahogany with lines of light wood inlaid. The lid of the lower part is folded back upon itself.