MovieChat Forums > Auction Kings (2010) Discussion > The Jefferson Desk

The Jefferson Desk

posted 11 years ago by hightp
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Unless there was some provenance we didn't see, I don't know how they can claim that antique desk was owned by Thomas Jefferson. (It sold for something like $65,000).

Sure, it was manufactured at the time he lived and the family that was selling it could trace their lineage back to Jefferson, but that's a far cry from saying Jefferson actually owned it, and proving it.

If they said it was 'attributed' to Jefferson and belived he owned it, it would have been a bit more believable.

I don't know what an original period writting desk goes for so the price may have been in line with a typical antique but they should have been a bit more forthcoming on the actual history of the item.

He who fights and runs away, lives to run away again!

[–] xnobozos 11 years ago

I agree completely. Just because the consigners family could be traced back to Jefferson, that doesn't mean that the desk belonged to our third president. I don't believe that anyone would pay that amount of money without ironclad provenance,

[–] DreamLordsNextDoorNeighbor 11 years ago

Jefferson inherited the house and the contents of the house. So he did in fact own the desk at some point. The bigger question would be if he ever used the desk.

An object at rest, cannot be stopped!