Work Table
Unidentified maker, New England, possibly Boston, Massachusetts, American, 19th century
about 1805
Inlaid and figured birchwood and mahogany with silk (reproduction) work basket
Overall: 39 1/4 × 19 3/4 × 16 3/4 in. (99.7 × 50.2 × 42.5 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Jerry Manne, Class of 1958
2008.13
Geography
Place Made: United States, North America
Period
19th century
Object Name
Furniture: Table
Research Area
Decorative Arts
Not on view
Label
This elegant work table—or “pouch table”—was designed to store a woman’s needlework projects. The lower drawer provides access to the silk storage basket, and the top drawer is partitioned to hold sewing implements. The table’s octagonal shape, slender, tapered legs, and decorative veneer and banding epitomize the Federal style that took hold during the first three decades of the recently formed United States. This early phase of American Neoclassicism was inspired by British examples, which were, in turn, modeled after items unearthed during 18th-century excavations of ancient Greek and Roman sites. Note the decidedly patriotic inlaid eagle surrounded by stars at the center of the tabletop. Ironically, this decorative inlay was almost certainly made in England for a new, highly nationalistic American market.
From the 2019 exhibition American Art, Colonial to Modern, curated by Barbara J. MacAdam, Jonathan L. Cohen Curator of American Art
Course History
HIST 9.1, Empires and Colonies in North America, Paul Musselwhite, Fall 2014
HIST 9.01, America: From Invasion to Independence, Paul Musselwhite, Fall 2019
HIST 5.14, Americas: Invasion to Independence, Paul Musselwhite and Ernesto Mercadeo-Montero, Fall 2022
Exhibition History
American Art, Colonial to Modern, Israel Sack Gallery and Rush Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, January 26, 2019-September 12, 2021.
Israel Sack Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, July 8, 2008-present.
Publication History
American Antiques from Israel Sack Collection, vol. 6 (Washington, D.C.: Highland House Publishers, Inc., 1979), p. 1622, no. P4699.
Provenance
Descended in the Sears Family, Boston; Israel Sack Inc., New York; Lansdell K. Christie; Sotheby Parke Bernet Inc., New York, The Lansdell K. Christie Collection of Notable American Furniture, October 21, 1972, sale no. 3422, lot. 66; Israel Sack, Inc., New York; sold to Jerry Manne [Dartmouth Class of 1958], December 12, 1978; given to present collection, 2008
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