Table with one drawer

1710-1735

Measurements

27-3/8 in x 35-7/8 in x 24-1/8 in

Materials

Tulip poplar (by microanalysis; legs, stretchers, cleats, drawer sides and back), white cedar or possibly white pine (top, table frame).

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, gift of H. Rodney Sharp

Accession Number

1959.3726

Condition Notes

The drawer is a replacement made of old wood.  The top 1-1/4 inches of the front rail of the table frame is replaced.  The turnings are very worn across the front faces of the front legs.  The top and base exhibit a faint red painted surface.

Provenance

Ex-collection, H. Rodney Sharp

Comments

Cleats set into dovetail-shaped channels on the undersides of the original top hold the two boards in place.  A single, removable pin through the approximate center of each cleat secures it to the side rails of the frame.

This table is very unusual in having turned stiles at each corner made of tulip poplar, rather than maple or another wood more commonly used for turning.  The baluster turnings have multiple score lines around the widest diameter.  In a file memo dated April 2, 1980, Benno Forman of Winterthur identified the table form as a dressing table, a topic he subsequently wrote about.  See Benno M. Forman, "Furniture for Dressing in Early America, 1650-1730: Forms, Nomenclature, and Use," Winterthur Portfolio 22, nos. 2/3 (Summer/Autumn 1987): 149-64.