Dressing Table
Period1740 - 1760
MediumWalnut, tulip poplar, and hard pine
Dimensions28.75 × 31.25 × 20 in. (73 × 79.4 × 50.8 cm)
InscribedBranded on the underside of the top, "Property / Mrs. J. A. Haskell."
ClassificationsTables and Stands
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1936
Object number2017.722
DescriptionThe rectangular top of this dressing table, consisting of two boards, is molded on all four edges. One full width drawer is positioned above a row of three drawers, the outer two being square. All the drawers have been thumbnail molded. The elaborately cut out skirt features three pendants, whereas the side skirts have a half round cutout in the center. Four cabriole legs end in pointed pad feet with a second smaller pad underneath. All brasses have been replaced.Curatorial RemarksThe dressing table shares several features in common with other case pieces made in the area of Middletown, Monmouth County. The first is the use of pointed pad feet with a second pad underneath. See accession numbers 1982.409 and 1991.536 for two examples. Also, the feet compare well to those without the second pad on a dressing table that descended in the Taylor family of Middletown, accession number 20. A second workmanship characteristic in common with Middletown practices is the construction of the full length top drawer. Its sides are higher than the back, and are rounded on their upper edge. The drawer sides extend to the rear surface of the drawer, making it dominant over the drawer back, which is lower and inserts into the sides. Other case pieces in the collection that share this distinctive drawer construction are 20, 1982.409, and 1995.531. The three smaller drawers are assembled differently.NotesA handwritten adhesive label on the underside of the left hand lower drawer reads, "Bought through Miss Elizabeth Gordon / Frazee (?) from Louisa Gordon / Price (her cousin) belonged to / their Great Grand Mother Gordon." Efforts to identify these two individuals have so far failed.
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