John Townsend
Bureau Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Bureau Table
Datec. 1760–1780
Made inNewport, Rhode Island, United States
MediumMahogany; chestnut and yellow-poplar
Dimensions34 1/2 × 39 1/4 × 22 in. (87.6 × 99.7 × 55.9 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.91
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Drawing Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This splendid bureau table is one of the most brilliant renditions of the Newport block-front—an acknowledged masterpiece of American design. The form, representing the marriage of the dressing table and chest of drawers, was variously interpreted in Rhode Island. A handful are known with plain facades, and within the block-front group a series of options were available, primarily in the execution of the prospect door and the outfitting of the top drawer.

The Bayou Bend bureau table belongs to a group confidently attributed to John Townsend. The son of Christopher Townsend, presumably he apprenticed with his father. During the course of his long career he signed or labeled more than thirty pieces of furniture, a number far greater than any other eighteenth-century American cabinetmaker (see B.66.11.1–.2). This unparalleled body of documented work, identifiable motifs, and construction techniques make it possible to identify Townsend’s cabinetry with a high degree of certainty. His earliest block-front case piece is dated 1765, and for more than three decades he continued to work in this idiom. John Townsend’s furniture offers a unique survey of one cabinet shop’s production and chronicles the maker’s rise to become one of America’s master craftsmen.

Technical notes: Mahogany; chestnut (interior framing, backboard, bottom), yellow-poplar (drawer, sides, back, and bottoms, drawer runners). The foot blocks’ contour corresponds to the bracket feet. Between the side brackets a molding has been set in. The dividers are dovetailed in and a bead surrounds each opening. There is a single shelf in the cabinet. A full dustboard separates the top drawer and the first tier of flanking drawers. Braces are attached to the sides just above the top drawer with a second set above running side to side. At the top of the backboard is the key device associated with Townsend’s shop. The brasses appear to be original. A drawer is inscribed: “Eliza Wightman” (see provenance).

Related examples: Downs 1952, no. 175; Heckscher 1982, pp. 1150–51; Moses 1984, pp. 100, 134; Heckscher 1985, pp. 211–12, no. 135; Ward 1988, pp. 40, 216–17, no. 109.

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.


ProvenanceProbably made for Samuel Vernon (1711–1792), Newport, Rhode Island; by descent to his daughter, Mrs. Valentine Wightman (née Elizabeth Vernon, 1738–1812); probably by descent to her daughter, Mary Wightman (1773–1840); by descent to her cousin, William Vernon (1788–1867); by descent to his daughter, Mrs. Robert M. Oliphant (née Ann Vernon, born 1832); by descent to her daughter, Mrs. George Casper Kellogg (née Grace Oliphant, died 1950); sold by her estate to Israel Sack, Inc., New York, 1950; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, 1950; given to MFAH, 1969.
Exhibition History"John Townsend, Newport Cabinetmaker," The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, May 2–September 25, 2005.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed on bottom drawer: A.W. MENDE 1943
Inside back of large drawer: A
Bank of small drawers numbered for orientation

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.

Dressing Table
Christopher Townsend
c. 1750–1755
Mahogany; yellow-poplar, eastern white pine, and chestnut
B.59.96
Desk and Bookcase
Edmund Townsend
c. 1765–1785
Mahogany; eastern white pine; chestnut; yellow poplar, and cedar
B.99.24
Bureau Table
Thomas Spencer
c. 1780–1785
Mahogany; mahogany, eastern white pine, chestnut, soft maple, and yellow poplar
B.92.6
Tea Table
Christopher Townsend
c. 1760–1780
Mahogany; chestnut
B.58.108
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1750–1800
Mahogany; chestnut, southern yellow pine, eastern white pine, and yellow-poplar
B.69.89
Side Chair (one of a pair)
John Townsend
1800
Mahogany; birch, soft maple, eastern white pine, and poplar
B.66.11.1
Side Chair (one of a pair)
John Townsend
1800
Mahogany; birch, soft maple, eastern white pine, and poplar
B.66.11.2
Valuables Box
c. 1740–1800
Black walnut; black walnut, chestnut, and yellow-poplar
B.65.8
Desk
c. 1700–1730
Black walnut, undetermined burl veneer, and eastern white pine; eastern white pine, black walnut, yellow-poplar, cherry, Cuban oyster wood (Gymnanthes lucida), and chestnut
B.69.42
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
Writing-arm Chair
Ebenezer Tracy
c. 1770–1803
Eastern white pine, yellow-poplar, soft maple, white oak, chestnut, and butternut
B.69.409
Desk and Bookcase
c. 1760–1790
Mahogany; eastern white pine, soft maple, chestnut, red cedar, poplar-aspen or cottonwood, white oak, and Spanish cedar or cedrela
B.69.22