In 1790 Congress established the United States Patent Office, where records of inventions could be registered with the government and their inventors’ rights given protection. Those making an application were required to submit working drawings and, when pertinent, a working model. As the nineteenth century progressed, many craftsmen explored new and innovative methods of furniture manufacture (see cat. no F232). One form that received considerable attention was a dining table that could be expanded easily. In 1851 Lewis Thorn was awarded patent no. 7997 for an “improved” extension dining table based on this working model. Thorn’s solution is cleverly conceived so that when the table is opened to its full expanse, the center boards receive additional support from the turned legs that, when the table is closed, are concealed in the central columnar support. Despite Thorn’s successful patent, his cabinet business apparently did not prosper, for by 1853 the Philadelphia city directory lists him as a confectioner.

Technical notes: Walnut (top, outside rail of center sliding mechanism); eastern white pine (end apron), yellow-poplar (side apron), cucumber tree (nonveneered inside portion of center column), white oak (middle rail of center sliding mechanism). The model bears a paper tag that reads: “No. 7997 / L. Thorn. /Extension Table/Patented Mar. 25.1851.” The top is removable, but the model does not seem to have come with the other half of the top.

Related examples: A similar full-size table is at Vamer-Hogg State Park, West Columbia,
Texas (Otto 1965, fig. 213).

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.