Day 300/365 Knoxville Table and Chair Company

This last weekend's estate sales yielded this mystery desk. My daughter and I saw it at the same time, and she fell in love with it, so it joined the household.

The company label inside the drawer is clear and intact: Knoxville Table and Chair Company, Knoxville, Tenn.

It's proving to be somewhat of a mystery though so I thought I'd ask my gentle readers if they are familiar with this company. The desk itself is heavy and solid, comes with a bookshelf on each end and a center foot rest . There's a single drawer, with heavy Mission style drop pulls.

The base finish is the usual heavy black shellac over mahogany.

The top surface is uncharacteristically left natural.

The only information I've been able to find about the Knoxville Table Company is that it operated in downtown Knoxville Tennessee from 1900-1935. One vintage Michigan Artisan catalog from September 1905 mentions that Mr. F.L. Hood, traveling sales representative of the Knoxville Table Company, spent the month of September in Chicago due to the yellow fever quarantine prevailing in a large part of his territory. Two other furniture companies are quoted as saying business was down in both Mississippi and Louisiana because of the yellow fever quarantines.

That's it. That all the power of the internet can find on this company. Usually there are the elusive vintage ads, or if I'm lucky, the vintage furniture catalog. This time, nada.

Once I solve this mystery, I'll start on what those two keys unlock.