Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Table
Datec. 1740–1770
Possible placeMaine, United States
Possible placePortsmouth, New Hampshire, United States
MediumSoft maple and eastern white pine; white oak
Dimensions25 1/2 × 36 5/8 × 26 1/2 in. (64.8 × 93 × 67.3 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.351
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Murphy Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This small table is part of a group that has been identified as the product of one craftsman working in the Piscataqua River area. All have distinctively raked legs with slender paired vase turnings and vigorously carved Spanish feet. The feet are made of one piece of wood, like those of chairs produced in the Ports­mouth area. Also distinctive is the double ogival arch design of the skirt, which re­calls the skirt treatment on high and low chests. Although in earlier literature they have been romantically described as tav­ern tables, it is more likely that they were intended for serving tea in the parlor. This example, like the others, bears traces of a reddish brown stain intended to make the maple surfaces resemble more expensive walnut.

Technical notes: Soft maple (legs, stretch­ers, apron), eastern white pine (top); white oak (cleat underneath top). The rectangular top is old but not original. Undoubtedly the original top was oval, like other examples, and was secured by a cleat to prevent warping.

Related examples: MMA (Davidson and Stillinger 1985, p. 108, fig. 141; Jobe et al. 1993, no. 46); SPNEA (Jobe et al. 1993, no. 46b); His­toric Deerfield (Fales 1976, p. 142); Wadsworth (Nutting 1962, no. 1225); Prentis Collection, New Hampshire Historical Society, Concord (Guyol 1958, fig. 8); Old Gaol Museum, York, Maine (Randall 1964a, no. 2); a private collec­tion (advertisement for the Cobbs Antiques in Antiques 132 [September 1987], p. 483).

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.


ProvenanceBy tradition owned by James and Keturah Jenkins Webber (married in Kittery, Maine, on February 13, 1729); [...]; [Israel Sack, Boston]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1926; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History.

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Armchair
c. 1785–1800
Eastern white pine, soft maple, ash, red oak, and white oak
B.69.402
Chamber Table
c. 1690–1710
Red oak; eastern white pine, soft maple, and hemlock
B.70.24
Armchair
c. 1790–1800
Eastern white pine, soft maple, white oak, mahogany, and ash. Old but not original green paint.
B.69.411
Desk and Bookcase
c. 1760–1790
Mahogany; eastern white pine, soft maple, chestnut, red cedar, poplar-aspen or cottonwood, white oak, and Spanish cedar or cedrela
B.69.22
Writing-arm Chair
Ebenezer Tracy
c. 1770–1803
Eastern white pine, yellow-poplar, soft maple, white oak, chestnut, and butternut
B.69.409
Sideboard
Joseph Meeks & Sons
c. 1825–1835
Gilded mahogany and mahogany veneer; white oak, soft maple, ash, eastern white pine, and yellow-poplar
B.67.6
Table with Drawer
c. 1695–1725
White oak and soft maple; southern yellow pine and white oak
B.22.18
Gentleman's Secretary
c. 1790–1820
Mahogany, eastern white pine, soft maple, and unidentified inlay; birch, yellow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.61.94
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1730–1760
Paint, gesso, gold leaf, eastern white pine, soft maple, brass; eastern white pine
B.69.348
Pair of Side Chairs
Benjamin Henry Latrobe
1808
Yellow poplar, oak, maple, eastern white pine, gold leaf, gesso, and cane
B.90.9.1,.2
Dressing or Toilet Table
c. 1700–1720
Black walnut, aspen, and soft maple; eastern white pine
B.69.52
Drop-Leaf Table
c. 1730–1800
Soft maple and birch; eastern white pine and birch
B.69.220