Images(7)

Camp Table

Date1810-1830

OriginEngland

MediumMahogany, beech, white oak, spruce, douglas fir (replaced), and white pine (replaced); brass, copper

DimensionsOH: 28 1/8”; OW: 28 ¾”; OD (open): 29”; D (closed): 14 ½”

Credit LineGift of Judith and William McMillen

Object number2018-7

DescriptionSquare card table with folding, swivel top and four removable legs; rectangular top leaf folds open on original brass card table hinges to create square table surface; fixed top swivels 90 degrees on iron bolt (not visible) attached to frame of table so that when open, the leaf is supported by the table frame; leaf has two rear leaf edge tenons to orient table top when open; plain rectangular table frame with bead along bottom edge of skirt; table frame has lapped, blind dovetails at corners (per donor); original brass slide bolt in center top of proper right table rail should lock the swivel leaf in closed position (currently slide blot and mortise are not properly aligned); table frame interior divided into three sections by white oak boards that are half dovetailed into the frame ends; square beech blocks are glued into each corner of the frame to receive the screw from the removable beech table legs; ¼” thick iron plates set and screwed into the tops of these blocks have threads to receive leg screws; three bottom boards (central white pine board replaced by donor) are nailed with wrought sprigs and screwed in a rabbet in the frame and to the underside of the interior dividers; legs are octagonal in cross section and tapered towards feet; large iron screws protrude from top ends of legs for attachment to frame; round shoulder at top of legs have a copper band screwed around them; all four table legs fit in alternating orientation inside central section of frame for storage; legs are marked I, II, III, and X on the side of the leg and on the bottom board near leg screw hole and on the tops of the interior frame dividers.

Woods: mahogany top and sides; beech legs; beech interior blocks for leg screws; white oak group interior dividers; spurce, douglas fir (replaced) and white pine (replaced) bottom boards.
Label TextCampaign or camp furniture, so called because of its use by officers in military campaigns and on shipboard, can be identified by its portable nature and ability to be broken down and stored easily. This table with its removable legs and interior storage for the same falls within this category. While most extant campaign furniture dates to the early 19th century and later, officers in the American Revolution, including George Washington, are known to have procured furniture of this type. Upholsterer Plunket Fleeson of Philadelphia supplied Washington with eighteen folding upholstered camp stools and three walnut “camp tables” in 1775 for use in his tents. While this particular table dates to the early 19th century, it probably shares some features with Washington’s “camp tables” that presumably folded or could be broken down for travel.

Colonial Williamsburg has two other piece of campaign furniture, a folding camp bed (1954-381), and an officer’s camp chest (2013-36).
ProvenanceDonor purchased the table from Don Carpentier, founder of Eastfield Village, who had acquired the table near Albany, New York around 1985.