• Title
  Patrick White : writing desk, drawer contents, desk lamp, vase, typewriter, chair, cushion, and mat
• Call number
  SAFE/XR 54
  
• Level of description
  series
• Date
  
  ca. 1946+
• Type of material
  Objects
• Reference code
  6485
• Issue Copy
  Partly Digitised : contextual image
  
• Physical Description
  1 desk - 72.3 x 183.3 x 69.3 cm. - red linoleum top, white border, yellow paint
  1 chair - 83 x 57.1 cm. - cream vinyl
  1 cushion - 33 x 38 cm. - tapestry pattern on olive green background)
  1 desk lamp - cream, extendable
  1 vase - diam. 81 cm. - white & brown pottery
  1 typewriter - portable `Optima', manual with blue surrounds
  1 mat - 42.5 x 60.5 cm. - patterned on red background with white fringe
  1 blue biro pen in yellow case
  1 blue biro pen in green case
  1 ceramic ashtray
  1 fluorescent tube for desk lamp
  1 eraser - 12.5 cm.
  1 typewriter case - black with yellow striped cloth cover
  1 paper knife - 22 x 3 cm.
  1 blotter - 16 x 9 cm.
  
• Scope and Content
  ITEM 01: Desk, ca 1946 (red linoleum top, white border, yellow paint)
  ITEM 02: Chair (cream vinyl)
  ITEM 03: Cushion (tapestry pattern on olive green background)
  ITEM 04: Desk lamp (cream, extendable)
  ITEM 05: Vase (white & brown pottery)
  ITEM 06: Typewriter and case, 1950+ (portable `Optima', manual, blue surrounds).
  ITEM 07: Mat (patterned on red background with white fringe)
  ITEM 08: Blue biro pen in yellow case
  ITEM 09: Blue biro pen in green case
  ITEM 10: Ceramic ashtry; inscribed "J. [?] Jobson"
  ITEM 11: Fluorescent tube for desk lamp
  ITEM 12: Eraser
  ITEM 13: Paper knife
  ITEM 14: Blotter
• Access Conditions
  
  Access via appointment
• General note
  
  Patrick White's desk was built in ca. 1946-47 by cabinet-maker Kenneth John Jackson of Jim Jackson and Sons, 45 Victoria Road, Parramatta. He believes that he followed the design of the desk from a sketch which was supplied.
  
  Reference:
  Information supplied by Mr Kenneth J. Jackson, 1991
  
  "When White set up flat in London in 1938, he had a friend, the then little-known painter Francis Bacon, design a desk that was the last gasp in modernity - sleek, long lines ... When he and Mr Lascaris moved back to Australia ... he left the desk behind"
  
  Reference:
  Sydney Morning Herald, 5 July, 1991.
  Digital order no:a2426001
• Subject
  White, Patrick, 1912-1990.
  
• Topic
  ashtrays
  chairs
  cushions
  desk lamps
  desks
  furniture
  mats
  pens
  typewriters
  vases
  
• Exhibited in
  
  Writers festival 2004
  Stranger than fiction
  The life of Patrick White
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE3358991

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