This Antique American ship's carpenter-made desk with drawers is a really fun, unique, and rare piece of furniture. It's made of walnut with pine secondary, and the small gallery drawer fronts are maple. The whole desk is canted, including the gallery drawers. The drawer dividers are double through-mortised to the side stiles. The sides are paneled. Overall the desk has the appearance of a four drawer chest, but the second drawer down is a butler's style pull-out desk with spool-turned gallery sides with gothic piercings and two small dawers. It is one of these drawers that bears the period inscription "Swatara".

There are two ships of the period that were named Swatara, the second being a reincarnation of the first. It was the world-traveling U.S. Navy Sloop-of-War U.S.S. Swatara, built 1865 and rebuilt 1873, and dismantled around 1896. For photos see: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h44000/h44611.jpg and http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h95000/h95874.jpg

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