Dining table

Date1760-1780

MediumMahogany, ash, tulip poplar and red pine.

DimensionsOH: 29"; OW (leaves closed): 21 1/2"; OW (leaves open): 60 3/4"; OD: 60"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959-382

DescriptionDining table: flat, rectangular top with two rectangular leaves; skirt, straight on sides; ogee shaped at either end; single, deep drawer at one end, molded on outside edge of front face; 6 cabriole legs terminating in ball and claw feet; one leg on each side swings out to support leaf.

Woods: Primary: mahogany; Secondary: gates, ash; frame and drawer bottom, tulip poplar; drawer sides and back, red pine.
Inscribed"O P" in chalk under right leaf; "i P" in chalk on back of drawer; "78 1/2" and "P" in chalk under left leaf.
ProvenanceAccording to family history this table was said to have been made in New England in 1751 for the Swaine family of Providence and Bristol, Rhode Island, and in 1817 came into the possession of John McLoughlin of Danbury, Connecticut, who married May Swaine. From them it descended to Gregory van S. McLoughlin, father of E. Kathleen Cumerford McLoughlin who sold it at auction at Parke Bernet Galleries in November, 1959. Despite the family history, this table appears to be a New York rather than New England product based on the woods, design of the feet, and the use of six legs. McLoughlin family members did live in the greater New York City area during the mid to late19th and early 20th centuries.