The basin stand was first produced in England during the 1750s and shortly thereafter in America. By the 1780s the form evolved into a number of shapes, including this configuration, which George Hepplewhite deemed “a very useful shape, as it stands in a corner out of the way.” Both Thomas Shearer and Thomas Sheraton improved on the design by adding a higher splashboard and splayed front legs; the latter “spring forward, to keep them from tumbling over.” Their published plates relate to the Bayou Bend stand, one of the most pleasing American interpretations of the form.

Technical notes: Mahogany, birch (veneer; visual analysis); eastern white pine. The T-shaped shelf is constructed of two perpendicular boards joined by a concealed, lapped dovetail. The splashboard sits on the top and is dovetailed at the corner. The cast brass pull appears to be original.

Related examples: Sack 1969–92, vol. 8, p. 2210, no. P5674.

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.