NEW YORK OR NEW ENGLAND, 1790-1810

The distinctive design and construction of this fine pembroke table recalls the work of several urban cabinetmaking centers, including Newport, Boston, and New York. Bookend inlay, present at the top of the legs in the present example, appears primarily on furniture from the corridor of land extending from New York to Rhode Island. Bellflowers extending down the legs and separated by beads often accompany such bookend inlay, but unusual in the present example are the beads that are encompassed by the end of the central petal. Two tables with closely related inlay signed by John Townsend of Newport are known (see Montgomery, American Furniture (New York, 1966), cat. no. 288; and Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1984), fig. 2.11). However, the bellflowers on the present example lack the distinctive central black line characteristic of most Newport examples. An unusual embellishment on this table are the apparently original enamel drawer pulls, a rare and expensive addition to the design. This detail appears in American Federal period furniture almost exclusively in Boston, and many of the other examples extant with such pulls are attributed to or labeled by the cabinetmakers John and Thomas Seymour. Several related New York pembroke tables are known, but employ husk rather than bellflower inlay. The construction of the table includes white pine drawer sides and bottom, with oak and maple leaf supports, a combination unusual for Newport, Boston, and New York, and one that suggests the possibility that it was made in Connecticut.