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Table 2012-174
Table with drawer
Table 2012-174

Table with drawer

Date1770-1800
OriginAmerica, Virginia, Williamsburg area
MediumCherry, yellow pine, and iron
DimensionsOH: 28 1/4"; OW: 44 1/2"; OD: 26 3/4"
Credit LinePartial Gift, Bettianne Sweeney and the Sara and Fred Hoyt Furniture Fund
Object number2012-174
DescriptionAppearance:
Table with rectangular top composed of three tongue and groove joined boards with molded edges on the front, back, and sides; straight skirt with molded lower edge on the sides and back; single long drawer across front with original iron oval drawer pulls (proper right pull mostly missing) and thumbnail molded edges; legs and feet square in cross section with chamfered corners (missing most of feet), blocked at stretchers; side and medial stretchers, rectangular in cross section with molded upper edges.

Construction:
The top is of three boards, tongue and groove joined with molded edges. It is pegged to the legs, side rails and back rail. The side and back rails are tenoned and pegged into the legs. Side stretchers are double tenoned and pegged into the legs and the medial horizontal stretcher is tenoned and pegged into the side stretchers. The corners of the legs are chamfered between the rails and stretchers and below the stretchers where they are integral with the feet. The upper edges of the stretchers are molded. All pegs securing tenons are through pegs

The drawer guides are “L” shaped, allowing the drawer supports to be integral with the guides. The guide/supports are tenoned into the legs and notched to fit around the front feet.

The drawers are of dovetail construction, with the back dovetails extending 1” beyond the back. The bottom is comprised of four 8” boards and one 1½” board (possibly added later due to shrinkage). The boards run front to back and are tongue and groove joined to each other and to the front, back and sides. One of the 8” boards is made up of two boards, tongue and groove joined end to end.

Label TextThis table was found in an outbuilding on a nearby James City County farm. Likely a local product, its well-worn appearance belies its original status. Made of cabinet-grade cherry and sporting decorative moldings on its top, drawer front, and stretchers, the piece was probably a prized possession in the modest home of a farmer or rural artisan.

The tongue-and-groove construction of the top suggests that this table is the work of a carpenter or joiner rather than a cabinetmaker. The original iron drawer hardware appears to be locally made.
ProvenanceDonor purchased from Bill Jenkins c. 1970s; Bill Jenkins apparently purchased from Gordon Lohr; Gordon Lohr stated that he purchased the table in the late 1960s or early 1970s from Old Mrs. Henderson who owned the Chickahominy House in Williamsburg. Mrs. Henderson sold a variety of items that folks brought to her. When Gordon Lohr first saw the table, it was on the porch of the Chickahominy House covered in chicken manure. He was told that it had come out of a chicken coop in James City County. (from conversation with Gordon Lohr, 9/2012)
Exhibition(s)