Images(2)

Sideboard

Date1790-1815

OriginAmerica, District of Columbia, Washington or Maryland, Georgetown or Virginia, Alexandria

MediumMahogany, yellow pine, tulip poplar and light wood and colored inlay

DimensionsOverall: 39 3/4 × 71 1/2 × 26 1/2in. (101 × 181.6 × 67.3cm)

Credit LineGift of Beatrix T. Rumford

Object number2020-47

DescriptionSerpentine front mahogany and mahogany veneered sideboard; overhanging top conforms to shape of front, lightwood string on front and side edges of top at top and bottom of edge; two rear and four front legs; front legs inlaid on fronts with lightwood string in descending guilloche pattern from the top of five graduated loops ending in a dot and petal, and connecting lightwood string outlining edges of legs to inlaid cuff above foot; façade divided into center section of a bow front drawer over bowed cabinet doors flanked concave, full height cabinet doors on either side of central section; stiles above legs inlaid with lightwood arch around mahogany veneer in chevron pattern; doors and drawer outlined in rectangular banding with inset corners; replaced oval brass pulls on drawer and side cabinets; inset escutcheons on all doors and drawer; banding along bottom edge of skirt.
Label TextThis sideboard descended in Mary Josephine Faulconer Baker's (1903-1989) family and may have been originally owned by one of her ancestors in Garrard County, Kentucky. Based on the guilloche inlay on the front legs and presence of yellow pine, the sideboard was likely made in the greater Washington, DC area, possibly in the District, Alexandria, Virginia or Georgetown, Maryland. Similar inlaid designs have been seen on sofas by William Waters or William Worthington of Georgetown and Washington D.C. and a tambour desk (1993-432) signed by James McAlester, who may have worked in Alexandria, Virginia, when he was working in Louisa or Goochland Co., Virginia.
ProvenanceDonor acquired sideboard from Josephine F. Baker (1903-1989) of Baltimore, MD in 1985; Baker acquired it from her parents, possibly from her father Rev. Henry Nichols Faulconer (1867-1930) originally of Danville, KY, whose ancestors trace back through Kentucky to Frederick Co, VA and Hagerstown, MD. Her mother Margaret F. Mason Faulconer’s (1881-1935) family lived mainly in Lancaster, Garrard Co, KY starting at the beginning of the 19th century. Their ancestors were from Culpeper and Orange Counties and Warrenton, Virginia. Believed by donor to have descended in Baker’s mother’s family from John Barbour Mason (1821-1889) of Garrard Co., KY. His family had migrated to Kentucky from Culpeper County, VA in the early 19th century.