The severely rectilinear form, delicate inlay, sliding tambour doors, and blue-painted interior of this small desk relate it to the work of the English-born cabinetmaker John Seymour and his son, Thomas, who were in partnership in Boston during the years around 1800. The Seymours made some of the most sophisticated American furniture in the Hepplewhite style, so-called from the Englishman whose publication of furniture designs was widely influential on both sides of the Atlantic.