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2024-196, Dressing Table
Dressing Table
2024-196, Dressing Table

Dressing Table

Date1795-1815
OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Boyle County, Casey County, Lincoln County, or Mercer County
MediumCherry, tulip poplar, light and dark wood inlay, brass
DimensionsOH: 28 5/8”; OW: 23 5/8”; OD: 18 ½”
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund and Mack and Sharon Cox
Object number2024-196
DescriptionRectangular table with overhanging top with straight edge inlaid at top and bottom of edge with lightwood string around front and sides; rectangular table frame with façade containing three drawers, side drawers square, center drawer shallower over flattened arch in the skirt; all drawers have single central brass knob; side drawers outlined with circle of lightwood string inlay; center drawer outlined with rectangular of lightwood string inlay with dark quarter round corners outlined with lightwood string inlay; tripartite banding of narrow lightwood string on either side of a wider darkwood band outlines front and side skirts; all table frame joints pegged with lightwood pegs with three additional smaller pegs in skirt banding below central drawer; straight tapered legs with chamfered outer corners of front legs inlaid with lightwood string; top of leg inlay has pointed arch form with cherry dot in center, three lightwood strings descend from arch with center string bisected by a lightwood dot and terminating in lightwood bellflower with two lightwood dots below; outer strings terminate above foot with lightwood rectangle enclosing a cherry dot.
Label TextThis little dressing table is part of a larger group of about 10 such tables, three chests of drawers, and one server produced in central Kentucky around Lincoln, Mercer, Casey, and Boyle Counties at the start of the 19th century. While the maker remains unknown (perhaps related to a James Mallory), his inlaid ornament, especially the unusual double arched element with three inlaid strings below at the tops of the front legs, unite this group of pieces. An ideosyncratic detail of the maker's construction can be seen in his use of thick stock for drawer sides and in the rear dovetails on the drawer where he reversed the typical orientation of pins and tails.
ProvenanceCollected by Mrs. Norma Stevenson Bradley, Lexington, KY before 1975 (documented by MESDA S-4393); Possibly sold at Cave City, KY to Linda Bruckheimer in 2000; Sold at Mike’s Auction, Campbellsville, KY, January 1, 2016; possibly purchased by dealer Robert Crawford, Richmond, Virginia 2016; Edward Lacy, Richmond, Virginia ca. 2016-2023; 2024 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation purchased through Nye & Co, Bloomfield, NJ from Edward Lacy’s estate.