Pembroke table

Date1800-1815

Attributed to William Little

OriginAmerica, North Carolina, Sneedsborough

MediumMahogany, yellow pine, tulip poplar, oak, light and dark wood stringing, and brass

DimensionsOH: 29"; OW: 20 3/4"; OW (open): 39 7/8"; OD: 30 3/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund

Object number2009-21

DescriptionAppearance: Pembroke or breakfast table with indented ovolo corners on the leaves, a drawer in one apron, and a simulated drawer front on the opposite apron. Decorated with triple-band stringing on top and at apron with single string on drawer and legs, banded cuff inlays. Each leg is topped with a rectangular panel of lightwood inlay with a quatrefoil at center and a chain of bellflowers below. Drawer stringing is rectangular with lunetted corners. False front in appearance of drawer at rear.

Construction: Iron butt hinges secure the rule-joined leaves to the top board. Four blocks are glued to the underside of the top to repair a later split. The rear rail and hinge rails are tenoned into the legs. Inner rails are nailed to the hinge rails. Vertical glue blocks reinforce the joining of the rear rail and rear legs. The front rail and drawer blade are double tenoned into the front legs. Screws set in wells on the interior surfaces of the inner side rails and back rails and through the front rail secure the top to the frame. Leaf supports are angled on ends with miter cut fingerholds along bottom edge and hinged to the stationary rail with knuckle joints. Blocks with one end tapered and the other with a raised stop are later additions nailed(modern nails) to the underside of the leaves to catch the leaf supports and enable the leaves to properly elevate. Drawer runners are nailed to the inner rails, as are drawer stops that rest on top of the runners. An upper drawer guide is nailed to the PL inner rail above the drawer. The front and rear rails, drawer blade and drawer front are veneered. Except where noted, nails are either forged or early cut variety.

The drawer sides are dovetailed to the front and back. The drawer bottom, with side to side grain, is flush nailed to the back and chamfered on the underside to fit into dados in the front and both sides. The original drawer pulls are stamped brass oval with post and bail.

Materials: mahogany with light and dark wood inlays; tulip poplar drawer sides and inner frame; yellow pine drawer bottom and front core; oak gate frame.
Label TextThe furniture produced by William Little in the North Carolina Backcounty illustrates his British training as well as the influence of his time in Norfolk, Virginia and Charleston, South Carolina. While much of the furniture produced in the North Carolina Backcountry reflects the rural nature of the area, Little often used mahogany and his work could easily be mistaken for high style urban pieces of the period. This breakfast or Pembroke table has a dark wood quatrefoil inlay at the tops of the legs. This type of inlay often appears in Norfolk, Virginia work and represents an influence from Little's time working in that city. While Norfolk quatrefoils are often of mastic, Little uses a dark wood in his version. The shape of the bellflowers on the legs of Little's table, along with the interspaced inlaid dots and lens shaped inlay are typical of Salem, Massachusetts. Norfolk cabinetmakers of the late 18th and early 19th century were influenced by Salem design due to the influx of northern cabinetmakers and products. Little most likely picked up this style of inlay from his time in working in a Norfolk shop during 1798. William Little's work is quite important to the story of backcountry Southern furniture because if it so dissimilar from most other backcountry North Carolina examples. This piece makes a wonderful comparison with CW's Norfolk breakfast table with quatrefoil inlays (#1978-84, 1-2).
ProvenanceMESDA acquired the table on loan from Mr. James G. Hanes III on 30 March 1973. Mr. Hanes inherited the table from his grandfather, Mr. James G. Hanes, 1972. Ralph P. Hanes, brother of James G. Hanes, stated that the table came to Mr. Hanes from Mrs. Paul Chatham, a dealer and aunt, of Charlotte, NC.