Sideboard

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Sideboard
Datec. 1855
PlaceMiddle Atlantic, possibly New York, United States
MediumAmerican tulipwood, northeast white pine, black walnut, and marble
Dimensions106 × 69 × 28 inches

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by Anaruth and Aron S. Gordon
Object number83.46
Current Location
The Audrey Jones Beck Building
108 Hevrdejs Gallery
On view

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Object Type
DescriptionSideboards such as this one graced the dining rooms of wealthy families in the 1800s and were also exhibited at world's fairs. Cabinetmakers often created grand objects for international expositions as a means of demonstrating their craft skills in dramatic fashion. It is densely carved with lifelike depictions of fish and game--an homage to the bounty of the American landscape. The bottom of this sideboard is laid out in three parts, all carved in walnut. The left door depicts lobsters, fish, and eel; the right is decorated with game birds; and the central panel features the gun, pouch, bugle, and powder horn associated with the hunt. The magnificent captured stag hanging over it all acts as a centerpiece.

Provenance[Peter Hill, Inc., East Lempster, New Hampshire]; purchased by MFAH, 1983.
Exhibition History"American Made: 250 Years of American Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 7 July 2012 - 2 January 2013.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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c. 1700–1730
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Léon Marcotte
1869
Ebonized American black cherry and bronze mounts; original upholstery
84.91
scan from file photograph
c. 1730–1800
Black walnut; yellow-poplar, red oak, Atlantic white cedar, chestnut, eastern white pine, and black walnut
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c. 1750–1780
Black-mangrove; black cherry, Atlantic white cedar, black walnut, yelow-poplar, and eastern white pine
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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
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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
Dressing or Toilet Table
c. 1700–1725
Black walnut, walnut veneer, and aspen; eastern white pine
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High Chest
c. 1700–1725
Black walnut, burled walnut veneer, soft maple, and aspen; eastern white pine, hemlock, and birch
B.69.43