Thomas White
Dressing Table

Dressing Table

Public Domain

Dressing Table
MakerAmerican, 1730–1791
CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Dressing Table
Datec. 1756–1776
Made inHertford (near), North Carolina, United States
MediumMahogany; southern yellow pine and Atlantic white cedar
Dimensions28 1/4 × 32 1/2 × 21 3/4 in. (71.8 × 82.6 × 55.2 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by the Theta Charity Antiques Show and Miss Ima Hogg, by exchange
Object numberB.87.12
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Sitting Room
Exposé

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

Thomas White was born in 1696 in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, to a Quaker family, later moving to Perquimans County, North Carolina, and finally Northampton County, North Carolina. Historians conclude from strong stylistic clues that White apprenticed in Newport, possibly in the shop of one of Newport’s many Quaker cabinetmaking families. When White died in 1788 in Northampton County, North Carolina, his inventory included a workbench, glue pot, lathe, and joiner's patterns. Though there are clues suggesting his presence in Rhode Island, no conclusive evidence placing him there has been uncovered in Colony or town records. (See John Bivins, “Rhode Island Influence on the Work of Two North Carolina Cabinetmakers,” American Furniture [1999]: pp. 81–88; and Rhode Island Furniture Archive at the Yale University Art Gallery).




ProvenanceGeorge Horace Lorimer (1869–1937), Philadelphia; George Burford Lorimer (1908–1952), Philadelphia; […]; [Ginsburg and Levy, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 1987.
Exhibition History"Theta Charity Antiques Show," Reliant Astrohall, Houston, September 11–15, 2002.

"Theta Charity Antiques Show," George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, November 14–19, 2018.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Side Chair (one of a pair)
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c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and Atlantic white cedar
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c. 1755–1800
Mahogany; southern yellow pine, Atlantic white cedar, and yellow-poplar
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Peter Stretch
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c. 1730–1740
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c. 1760–1800
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scan from file photograph
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c. 1730–1800
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