While the marble-topped pier table had been known in America since the mid-eighteenth century, the form assumed new importance as a key piece of Grecian parlor furniture in the early nineteenth century. Often made in pairs and intended to be placed between windows, these tables incorporated classical elements, including columns and pilasters, and often mirror glass completed the back of the lower section. This type of pier table, with marble elements, does not appear in the New York price book of 1815, suggesting it was either a specialty item or a form not prevalent enough to be included. However, the 1833 Meeks broadside illustrates several versions, the basic form described as “mahogany pier table with white marble top and columns,” and indicates that the same table with black and gold “egyptian marble”‘ cost one-third more. Even so, with the marble elements, looking glass, and gilt bronze mounts, this piece represented an expensive and stylish piece of parlor furniture.

Technical notes: Mahogany, mahogany veneer; eastern white pine (table base, apron), mahogany (vertical side framing), yellow-poplar (carved feet), marble, mirror glass, brass, gilt.

Related examples: Two in the Empire Parlor at Winterthur are, like this example, relatively restrained in design (Sweeney 1963, p. 128); a slightly later pair has stenciled rather than ormolu decoration (Sack 1969–92. vol. 7, p. 1757, no. P4899); Anglo-American Art Museum, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge (Antiques 105 [March 1974], p. 470).

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.