Dining table

1795-c. 1801

Maker

John Janvier Jr. (1777–1850)

Measurements

28 in x 45 in x 19 1/4 in (open, 56 1/2 in)

Materials

Mahogany; ash (swing leg and rail), hard pine (inside rails)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation

Accession Number

1975.18

Inscription

"John Janvier Jr” is written in white chalk on the underside of the top.

Provenance

Ex coll. Miss Margaret Janvier Hort, who stated that the table came from the house of George W. Janvier, a brother of the maker.

Comments

This dining or drop-leaf table is exceptional for the maker's inscription under the top.  Use of "Jr" after John Janvier's name indicates the son, who might possibly have made it as early as 1795, when he was age 18.  More interesting, dropped use of Jr within a few years of his father's death in 1801, thus indicating a date at the end of its range.  Without Janvier's name and the reinforcing ownership in the Janvier family, this table would likely have been identified as of Philadelphia origin--a testiment to the fine quality of furniture made by the Janviers.

Bibliography

Hotchkiss, “Wilson-Warner House,” 887, pl. II.

Zimmerman, A Storied Past, 90.