Diminutive four-legged tables, a more costly variation on the earlier tripod stands, were introduced during the Neoclassical period. They were used for drawing, writing, gaming, or as a candlestand. A ubiquitous form, the legs of the Bayou Bend table terminate in a pointed double taper, a motif specific to its regional origin. Abundant inlays and the illusory treatment of the sides, composed of one real and three sham drawers, combine to make this object whimsical as well as functional.

Technical notes: Black cherry, unidentified inlay; eastern white pine. The top is secured by screws and blocks. All four cast brass pulls are original.

Related examples: Similar in concept is Montgomery 1966b, pp. 402–3, no. 398. The Bayou Bend table’s inlaid top is reminiscent of a card table labeled by John Dunlap II (Barquist, Garrett, and Ward 1992, pp. 176–78, no. 80), as well as of cat no. F167.

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.