Images(4)

Bureau table

Date1719-1725

Artist/Maker Coxed & Woster

Maker Grace Coxed

Maker Thomas Woster

OriginEngland, London

MediumWalnut, walnut veneer, oak, and deal

DimensionsH: 29 ¾”; OW: 31 ¼”; OD: 20 1/2”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1974-169

DescriptionAppearance:
Bureau Table with rectangular top with molded edges overhanging the front and sides; one long shallow drawer above two tiers of three equal size deeper drawers flanking an arched valance in front of a removable recessed central section with an arch banded door, behind which is a central shelf; double bead applied to front edges of sides and drawer dividers; ogee base molding above one ball foot (replaced) centered on each tier of drawers; ball feet at rear corners; table top, drawer fronts, and arched valance veneered with crossbanding, stringing, and burl veneer; brass ring pulls with round rosettes and oval brass escutcheons on drawer fronts (all brass drawer pulls and escutcheons except prospect door hinges replaced following evidence on table).

Construction:
Deal top dovetailed to sides; walnut veneered two part molding attached with mitered corners to front, back and sides of case top; case bottom dovetailed to sides; top deal drawer blade integral with full depth dustboard in dado in case sides; short deal drawer blades with thinner full depth deal dust boards in correspondingly thin and thick dados in case sides and inner sides; all drawer blades and case sides have applied walnut double bead on front edges; deal inner sides, veneered in recessed kneehole section, in dados in underside of top dust board, possibly dovetailed at front to case bottom board and in dado to back begining at recessed prospect section; shelf for valance drawer above recessed prospect section dadoed into inner sides and holds drawer with integral extended shaped lower edge. Small rectangular glue blocks (replaced) glued behind drawers in rear corners.

Prospect section is a removable oak box with a center shelf and hinged door; top and bottom of prospect dovetailed to sides; shelf in dado in prospect sides; stiles flanking door glued and nailed from outside to sides and bottom; top rail nailed from top to top; backboard nailed to back of prospect case; front of prospect section fully veneered; veneered solid oak door hinged on proper left to prospect section with possibly original brass foliate hinges. Large horizontal glue block glued in case to case back and bottom board behind removable prospect.

Blocks nailed to case bottom board around perimeter; base molding nailed to front edge of bottom board and blocks; feet (replaced) tenoned into blocks with round mortises glued to case bottom. Evidence of original blocks with round mortises centered on each tier of drawers at front and at rear corners of case indicates originally had ball feet in those locations.

Vertical oak backboards nailed in rabbet in sides and to rear edge of case bottom board; a thin chamfered block is nailed to the underside of the top along the back to hold upper end of backboards in place. Center deal backboard replaced; side oak backboards may be original.

Drawers are standard dovetail construction with front to back bottoms in rabbet in front and sides and nailed to the front and back; drawer runners are glued to the sides and across parts of the front; shallow drawer over propsect section is same construction except it lacks runners.

Woods: Walnut top and base moldings, double beads, drawer fronts, and feet; walnut veneer on all flat exterior surfaces; oak drawer linings, backboards, and prospect cabinet; deal top, bottom, sides, drawer dividers and dustboards.

Label TextThis bureau table survives with the label of Grace Coxed and Thomas Worster from the White Swan at St. Paul's Churchyard in London. Grace, the widow of cabinetmaker John Coxed, partnered with John's brother-in-law Thomas Worster from 1718 until her death in 1735. While not a cabinetmaker herself, Grace likely oversaw the business as she had for seven years after the death of her first husband, cabinetmaker John Mayo. Coxed, her second husband, had been apprenticed to Mayo and completed his apprenticeship under Grace's tenure before their marriage in 1707.

The unusual placement of the replaced front ball feet is based on surviving evidence on the bottom of the bureau table.
MarkingsLabel: printed label (partially missing) for G. Coxed and T. Woster with an image of a swan beneath an arch flanked by columns "G [Cox]ed and T. Woster./[At the] White Swan in St./ [Paul's] Church Yard, Lon-/[don; makes] and [s]ells Cabinets,/[Book-Cases, Ch[ests] of Drawer[s],/ [Scrutores,] and [Looking-glasses]/[of all sorts] at rea[sonalble Rates.]/ ...in Bow-Ch[urch-yard, Printer]/[o]f all Sorts of Adverti[sements.]".
Handwritten label pasted below printed label (mostly missing) "Les.... British School/....28 Feby 1807/...]