Dressing Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Dressing Table
Datec. 1760–1800
Possible placeBaltimore, Maryland, United States
Possible placePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
MediumBlack walnut; red gum, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and eastern white pine
Dimensions28 3/8 × 34 3/4 × 19 3/4 in. (72.1 × 88.3 × 50.2 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.527
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Philadelphia Stairhall (Upstairs)
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Defining the characteristics of Maryland furniture presents a scholarly challenge because of the difficulty in distinguishing it from Philadelphia work. While in Annapolis English-born craftsmen and imports dominated, in Baltimore the influence of Philadelphians is more readily discernible. Two of Baltimore’s principal cabinetmakers, Robert Moore (1723–1787) and Gerrard Hopkins (1742–1800), had previously worked in Philadelphia. The Bayou Bend dressing table is reminiscent of Philadelphia examples, yet its pendant shell suspended from an inverted bellflower is similar to one on a high chest assigned to Maryland.

Related examples: This dressing table is closely related to a high chest in Elder and Stokes 1987, pp. 74–76, no. 50. Another high chest possesses the same configuration of elements, appearing to be virtually identical, and perhaps was made en suite with the dressing table (Parke-Bernet, sale 2510, January 28, 1967, lot 101).

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., 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.


ProvenanceGeorge Horace Lorimer (1867–1937), Philadelphia; [Ginsburg and Levy, New York]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1969; given to MFAH, 1969.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Label is numbered 23.69
Marked: L50.13.30 [painted]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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c. 1740–1800
Black walnut; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, and spruce
B.66.15
scan from file photograph
c. 1730–1800
Black walnut; yellow-poplar, red oak, Atlantic white cedar, chestnut, eastern white pine, and black walnut
B.61.82
Eight-day Clock
Peter Stretch
c. 1730–1740
Black walnut; southern yellow pine, eastern white pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.86.4
Dressing Table
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, yellow-poplar, and Atlantic white cedar
B.58.147
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, cedar, southern yellow pine, and yellow-poplar
B.69.75
Chest-on-Chest
c. 1760–1800
Mahogany; mahogany, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, white oak, and southern yellow pine
B.69.74
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.77.2
Side Chair
c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, and yellow-poplar
B.69.80
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1750–1780
Black-mangrove; black cherry, Atlantic white cedar, black walnut, yelow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.69.64
Dressing Table
c. 1730–1800
Soft maple; southern yellow pine and Atlantic white cedar
B.69.238
Dressing Table
Thomas White
c. 1756–1776
Mahogany; southern yellow pine and Atlantic white cedar
B.87.12