Images(2)

Work Table

Date1825-1840

OriginAmerica, Ohio, Cincinnati (possibly)

MediumMahogany, cherry, and butternut (by eye)

DimensionsOH: 28 3/4 in.; OW: 22 1/4 in.; OD: 16 1/2 in.

Credit LineGift of Philip Cohen

Object number2019-75

DescriptionAppearance:
Square work table with two mahogany veneered drawers with convex fronts, inset brass escutcheons, and two wooden drawer pulls each; mahogany veneered drawer blades; all other primary wood cherry; pairs of slightly different carved foliate/floral motifs flank drawers within square/rectangle panels on convex blocks that continue the shape of the drawer fronts; top has rounded edge; turned legs divided into sections with ring and flattened ball turnings between then; upper third turned and carved with a diamond pattern; lower two thirds turned and carved in a spiral rope pattern; ball feet with tall ankles turned with ball and flattened ball and ring turnings.

Construction:
The turned and heavily carved legs are integral with the stiles and with the ball feet. The back, sides, front rail, drawer blades and drawer guides, are tenoned into the stiles. Drawer supports are nailed to the drawer guides with cut nails. Upper drawer guide (to keep upper drawer from tipping) is nailed to the proper right (PR) stiles.

The two boards of the top are butt joined and glued to each other. Two modern lath strips nailed to the underside of the boards from below further secure the joining. The top is secured with two screws from the underside of the upper drawer blade and from the inside of the back with two pocket screws. Two semi-rounded carved wood blocks are glued to the front face of the front stiles between the front rail and drawer blades. Front rail and drawer blades are mahogany veneered

Small rectangular drawer stops are glued to the back on each side behind the drawers. The PR upper drawer stop is missing.

The drawers are of dovetail construction with the bottom set in dados in the sides and front and nailed from below to the back. The top edge of the back is ¼” lower than the top edge of the sides. The drawer fronts are semi-rounded and mahogany veneered. Three of the four wooden pulls are original, locks are replacements.
Label TextThis work table has design aspects that place it within a group of furniture currently attributed to Cincinnati, Ohio. The convex drawer fronts, carved foliate motifs in squares/rectangles flanking the drawers, the ball feet, and spiral turned legs are all design elements found in tables, chests of drawers, sideboards, and desks with histories in Ohio and Kentucky that most likely originated in Cincinnati in the early 19th century. Cincinnati became a major furniture producer for both the local and regional market during that period. With the advent of steamboats, the Ohio River became a major transportation route linking Cincinnati to numerous other rivers and canals that expedited the movement of furniture through the region.

This work table descended in the family in the Brockman family of Morgan County, Illinois. The progenitors of the family, Samuel Brockman (1804-1852) and Sarah Ann Smedley Brockman (1804-1847) who married in Fayette County KY in 1824, migrated from Kentucky to Illinois around 1830. They could have brought the table with them from Kentucky or purchased it after arriving in Illinois.
ProvenancePossibly originally owned by Samuel Brockman (1804-1852) and Sarah Ann Smedley Brockman (1804-1847) who married in Fayette County KY in 1824. Both the Brockman and Ewing families migrated to Morgan County, IL around 1830. The Brockman son, Samuel C. Brockman (1832-1912), married Mary Ellen Ewing (1836-1923) in Morgan County, IL in 1860. They were the parents of Georgia E. Brockman (ca. 1868-1951) and James Wallace Brockman (1863-1924), grandfather of the donor.

Donor believes that the table was a family piece that descended to Georgia E. Brockman. She left the table to her niece, Portia Lucille Brockman Cohen (b.1906), daughter of James Wallace Brockman, who left it to her son (donor).