Making a desk from a piano

2015-03-03

By Jennifer Weymark/Archivist

The former home for the Henry family became the first museum in Oshawa in 1960. The home has been designed to exhibit what a family home might have looked like during the 1870s. In order to do so, the museum has collected various artifacts similar to ones the family may have owned when they lived in the home. It is always extra special when we can exhibit a piece that actually belonged to the Henry family.

In the summer of 2014, a new artifact belonging to the Henry family was donated to the museum by descendants of the family. The item is an antique desk that was once located in the former home and dental practice of Dr. Fredrick Luther Henry.

Dr. Henry was a grandson of Thomas and Lurenda Henry. The third son of James Orin Henry and Hattie Hall, Fredrick grew to become a well known and respected member of the community of Oshawa.

In 1904, Henry was a member of a group of citizens who worked to persuade the legislature to build a much needed post office in Oshawa. The site of this post office was the northeast corner of Ontario and King streets and it opened in 1904.

Henry also sat on the city’s first Public Parks Commission, along with other citizens of Oshawa, including R.S. McLaughlin. He also played a pivotal role in the construction of the Oshawa General Hospital as he helped to managed its construction in 1910.

The desk had been one of the pieces of furniture in Henry’s dentist office and home, located at 231 King St. East. This building still stands and is now home to the Community Wellness Centre.

The desk is a lovely example of a classic revival spinet desk that is made of mahogany and veneer. The name “spinet” is used to describe this style of desk because it resembles a spinet, a musical instrument of the harpsichord family.

There are two types of spinet desks: factory-made pieces dating from the 1920s through to the 1940s and conversions made from Victorian square case pianos. Our spinet desk is a factory piece. The original spinet desks were originally pianos from around 1840 that were converted into desks from the 1920s through to the 1940’s, when their internal works were beyond repair, their rosewood and mahogany veneered cases and square design being seen as “old fashioned,” but thought too valuable to throw out.

The desk is now a part of the exhibits in Henry House. If you want to see more of this wonderful donation, visit the Oshawa Community Museum soon.