Dressing Table

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Dressing Table
Datec. 1730–1775
Made inBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumBlack walnut, inlay; eastern white pine
Dimensions29 5/8 × 33 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (75.2 × 85.1 × 52.1 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, gift of Miss Ima Hogg
Object numberB.69.134
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Queen Anne Bedroom
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Object Type
Description

This sophisticated dressing table masterfully integrates both Early and Late Baroque styles. Cabriole legs have superseded turned ones, yet instead of the corresponding pad feet, the earlier brush feet, still regarded sufficiently fashionable, were retained. The turned pendants are also vestiges of the previous style, their placement suggestive of the central front legs on an Early Baroque high chest. The subtle line inlay that defines the table’s surface frames both its shell drawer and its top with its compass-inspired detail.

Technical notes: Black walnut, unidentified inlay; eastern white pine. The brush feet are carved from a single piece of wood. The construction is more characteristic of Early Baroque case pieces, the drawer partitions tapering upward toward the back. The top drawer rests on side runners, the lower drawers on medial supports. The drawer bottoms axe nailed to the sides. The top is molded on all four sides. Inlay composed of a dark line flanked by light-colored lines defines the drawer fronts and top.

Related examples: Antiques and The Arts Weekly, December 22, 1989, p. 115; and a high chest in Antiques 131 (May 1987), p. 957

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, 1988.


ProvenanceBy inheritance within the Delano family, Duxbury and Plymouth, Massachusetts [1]; [Howard “Harry” Arons (1906–2000), Ansonia, Connecticut], by April 21, 1952; [Ginsburg & Levy, New York, April 21, 1952–October 28, 1952]; purchased by Miss Ima Hogg, October 28, 1952; given to MFAH, 1969.

[1] This information came from Ginsburg & Levy.
Exhibition History

Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
[no inscriptions]
[no marks]

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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scan from file photograph
c. 1760–1800
Black walnut; red gum, Atlantic white cedar, yellow-poplar, southern yellow pine, and eastern white pine
B.69.527
Dressing or Toilet Table
c. 1700–1725
Black walnut, walnut veneer, and aspen; eastern white pine
B.69.45
scan from file photograph
c. 1730–1775
Soft maple, black walnut, and inlay; eastern white pine
B.69.221
Dressing or Toilet Table
c. 1700–1720
Black walnut, aspen, and soft maple; eastern white pine
B.69.52
Card Table
c. 1820–1830
Grained, painted, and gilded mahogany, and birch; mahogany veneer on eastern white pine with black walnut banding, ash, eastern white pine, cherry, and original brass casters
B.68.31
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
Card Table
c. 1800–1820
Mahogany and unidenfied inlay; eastern white pine and black cherry
B.69.408
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
Table
c. 1700–1730
Black walnut; soft maple, chestnut, and eastern white pine
B.59.71
Card Table
c. 1740–1750
Mahogany; mahogany, black walnut, soft maple, eastern white pine, and basswood
B.69.132
High Chest of Drawers
c. 1750–1780
Black-mangrove; black cherry, Atlantic white cedar, black walnut, yelow-poplar, and eastern white pine
B.69.64
High Chest
c. 1700–1725
Black walnut, burled walnut veneer, soft maple, and aspen; eastern white pine, hemlock, and birch
B.69.43