In the late eighteenth century the term “pier table” came into general use, referring to the pier wall, the expanse between two windows or doors, where these tables were positioned. Thomas Sheraton observed, ‘As pier tables are merely for ornament under a glass, they are generally made very light, and the style of finishing them is rich and elegant. Sometimes the tops are of solid marble. . . .’ Marble-topped, or slab, tables had long been popular in Rhode Island, and in this singular instance the form was reconfigured into a bold new contour, one equally suitable for the sideboard. The Bayou Bend table, with its molded legs and brackets, is a composite of the Rococo and Neoclassical styles. The complexity of establishing a precise date is underscored by a documented Marlborough-legged sofa by Adam Coe of Newport dated 1812, confirming the continued popularity of the earlier style well into the nineteenth century. 

Technical notes: Mahogany, hard maple (stretchers); birch (back rail), eastern white pine (corner blocks). The triangular blocks in the front have fills set in-between the block and front rail; the rear blocks are replaced. The lapped cross stretchers may be replacements or perhaps a later addition to strengthen the frame. Beneath the marble top is painted “IP.” over “16.” Attempts to identify the initials have proved inconclusive.  

Related examples: This is the only example of this form published; however, there is a group of related sideboards: Montgomery 1966b, pp. 372–73, no. 359; Antiques 90 (December 1966), p. 732; Antiques 118 (September 1980), p. 418. 

Book excerpt: David B. Warren, Michael K. Brown, Elizabeth Ann Coleman, and Emily Ballew Neff. American Decorative Arts and Paintings in the Bayou Bend Collection. Houston: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.