During the Late Baroque period the drop-leaf table underwent a series of adjustments. Its turned legs were replaced by cabriole supports, and the top’s sharp edge was now molded. These changes had as much to do with comfort as they did with style since the stretchers were no longer in the way of those sitting at the table. The form managed without the pivot posts and stretchers. In addition, during this period and the subsequent Rococo, the drop-leaf table rarely incorporated a drawer, sacrificing limited storage to ensure a stronger joint between the two stationary legs. The form retained its flexibility, both in terms of augmenting or reducing the top’s surface, and when not in use the leaves dropped down and the table was placed against the wall. This diminutive example, too small to sit at for dining, probably functioned for tea drinking, gaming, and reading.
 
Technical notes: Soft maple (legs, end rails), birch (top); eastern white pine (fixed rails, medial brace), birch (hinge pins). The construction follows the standard eighteenth-century New England practice, with dove-tailed ends and scalloped molding. The top is pinned at each end. A medial brace stabilizes the frame with vertical corner glue blocks. It retains remnants of an old finish and the number 27184.

Related Examples: Most similar is Downs 1952, no. 304. The only examples attributed to a specific craftsman are assigned to Samuel Sewall (1724–1814) of York, Maine (Kaye 1985, pp. 279–84); others with a provenance or markings include Sotheby’s, New York, sale 5376, October 26, 1985, lot 38; Levy Gallery 1988a, p. 12, no. 6; and Antiques 134 (October 1988), p. 644.

Book excerpt: Warren, David B., 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.