Work table

1800-1815

Measurements

28-5/8 in x 22-1/4 in x 13-1/8 in

Materials

Cherry, lightwood stringing, mahogany banding; tulip poplar (drawer sides and bottom)

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.608

Condition Notes

The underside of the top has many saw kerfs cut into it, probably to remove a warp, indicating that the top had been removed for the repair.  One corner of the half-round lower shelf has split off.

Provenance

Bequest of Dr. and Mrs. J. Newberry Reynolds to The David Wilson Mansion, Inc., in 1942.

Comments

The one-drawer table has faux drawers at each end and on the opposite side.  The ends have half-round shapes added to the central rectangle, forming a shape that furniture-makers of the period called "astragal."  The table has an astragal-ended shelf below the framed top.  The four legs are square in cross-section and taper below the shelf.  The tapers are on the inside surfaces only, a provincial treatment that makes the legs appear to angle outward.  Another "provincial" treatment is the open space between the framed drawer section and the shelf.  Typical, work tables filled in this space either with cabinetry of some form or with an upholstered textile, such as silk or another fine fabric.