Images(2)

Dressing table

Date1730-1740

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Boston

MediumBlack walnut, birch, and white pine

DimensionsOH: 32 1/4" OW: 33 7/8" OD: 21 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972-229

DescriptionApperance: Dressing table with broad, flat top with rounded edge on all four sides; the top is elaborately veneered with center section divided into four panels of crotch veneer surrounded by a double band of herringbone pattern veneer. Beyond is a border approximately 1 1/2" wide of plan veneer which is, in turn, bordered on the edge by a second double strip of herringbone veneer. The top overhangs the case on the sides and back by approx. 2" and on the front by approx. 1 3/4". Straight sides, each side veneered with a double panel with a seam down the center. The area above each leg is veneered separately. Front is composed of five drawers, two horizontal drawers at the top above 2 "square" drawers below which flank a smaller horizontal center drawer. Three lower drawers are each veneered with a central panel surrounded on four sides by a double row of herringbone veneer. The top drawers are similarly faced but lack the herringbone border at the top. The drawers are outlined by a double bead molding on all sides except the top of the top row of drawers. Area below the bottom drawers is faced with a crotch veneer. The front skirt is deeply scalloped with flat arches beneath each of the side drawers and a deep reverse ogee arch beneath the center drawer. Each drawer contains a single engraved Queen Anne brass with bail, all original. The skirt is bordered by an applied strip of bead molding nailed to the underside. A pair of replaced acorn drops extend downward from lowest projections of skirt. The side skirts are shaped in a flat-headed, shallow arch and are also bordered at bottom by the applied bead molding. Table is supported on four extremely thin and graceful birch cabriole legs with pointed knees, each terminating in an almost circular pad foot on a slightly molded disc.

Construction: All interior wood is white pine; all flat exterior surfaces are veneered with crotch walnut. The top is made of four matching pieces of veneer framed by two opposed bands in a herringbone pattern surrounded in turn by a broad band of veneer also framed by an outer double herringbone band, the whole terminating in a molded edge. The sides are veneered with two matching panels, and the areas above the legs are separately veneered. Each of the drawer fronts are veneered and bordered with herringbone bands as on the top and each drawer is framed by a double bead with a channel between. There is no banding on the top of the upper drawer. All brasses are original. The drawer sides and backs are finished with a double arch molding. The face of the skirt is veneered and the skirt is bordered on the front and sides by an applied bead nailed on from beneath. The acorn drops are replacements; the four cabriole legs have pointed knees and taper gracefully to a molded pad foot. Two boards have been attached inside the case on the left side to correct warpage of the veneer.
Label TextNew England craftsmen continued to produce baroque dressing tables longer than most of their colleagues in other American cabinetmaking centers, but rarely did they surpass the heights of design and detail to be found on this early Boston example. The interplay of book-matched veneers and herringbone inlays, the sinuous quality of the cabriole legs, and the elaborately shaped skirt all serve to heighten this table’s sense of controlled richness.

Few New England dressing tables of this quality have survived in such original condition. Here the brasses, veneers, and framing are essentially intact; only the drops have been replaced.
InscribedSome drawers are numbered on bottom in modern green crayon.
ProvenanceFormerly Smith Collection, Winchester, Massachusetts.

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