1930's or 1940's Solid Walnut Executive Desk

Hello,

I am a personal assistant in San Francisco and am looking to help my employer sell a few things, including this desk. It's a 1930's or 1940's Solid Walnut Executive Desk, that wasn't recently refinished by a professional. It originally belonged to the chairman of MGM and President of APL, who was also the Chairman of the DNC during the Truman campaign. It's about 6 ft wide and 4 ft deep, please see picture. I'm here trying to get an idea of the best way to go about selling this item. As it is both a fantastic piece and something of historical significance, I'm guessing craigslist/ebay isn't the best option. Any help, especially local Bay Area suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
Audrey

 

Hi Audrey :
it's been discussed here that brown furniture is not all that hot at the moment , but if you have some documentation about it's past owners that would increase it's collectible status by a wide margin.

CL may be a thought if you have a market in your area , as it looks costly to ship that sucker, but an auction house dealing in furniture may be the best way to proceed , specially with the proper provenance !

Good Luck !

PS......what other things ???

 

So who did it belong to? Go ahead... drop the name. Can it be proven? If it can be proven that it was owned and used by an entertainment mogul and political mover and shaker... there's your value. Maybe in one of Bonham's entertainment auctions. But proof will be necessary.

 

Could be a dining room table from here.

Shift the clutter off it, move it away from the window so the light is on it not behind it and photograph the whole desk, not the just the top. Pictures of both sides and the ends would give a better idea.

If you just want to get rid of it, a decent auction house would be the way to go in my opinion, but for any provenance, you will need some sort of documentation.

Any thing new you replace it with is likely to be more expensive than the present desk.