mage Credit, Courtesy Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden, public domain
Hi-res image https://www.lakenhal.nl/nl/collectie/2662
This rare surviving 17th-century lectern-on-stand belongs to the kind of practical furniture that was designed to write and store paperwork. It was widely used in the 17th-century in particular in Dutch households of merchants and doctors who needed to write bills or recipes and keep important documents. This lectern on a high base was made for standing while writing letters or handling documents. Such a piece of furniture probably was used in the New Amsterdam Apothecary of the Kierstede family, with Hans and Roelof as surgeons-physicians needing to write and store many recipes for their patients.
Museum De Lakenhal, summary (translated into English):
Oak lectern on a base with a protruding slanted lid and a new ledge. The lid of the lectern is attached to the upper frame using hinges. The lectern contains two oval, inward-curving metal lock plates with protrusions, placed side by side.
The base consists of Doric column-shaped and turned segments and supports, with a double T-shaped connection in between. The base rests on ball feet. Along the upper edge of the base run S-shaped volutes and consoles. The key is missing.
Reference:
Geography: Made in the Netherlands
Culture: Dutch
Maker: Anonymous
Date: 17th century
Medium-materials: oak and metal
Dimensions: 48.8 x 30.7 x 24.8 inch or 124 x 78 x 63 cm
Inventory number: 2662