拍品專文
One of the most recognized forms made in New York in the second decade of the nineteenth century, this example surpasses most with its rich mahogany figure and lightwood petruse drawer. Nearly identical labeled examples by cabinetmakers Stephen and Moses Young, who worked in New York from 1804-1818, and Michael Allison, are a testament to the uniformity and transmission of the design by New York city artisans (see Conger and Rollins, Treasures of State (New York, 1991), fig. 143; Winterthur Photographic Library, now in a private collection).
"Pillar and Claw Pembroke Tables," as they were termed in the period, were described in the 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-work as follows, the description of which closely adhears to this example and again underscores the popularity and prevalance of this particular form in New York:
one fly on each side, four claws........2.0..6 rounding the corners of the leaves......0.10.0
shaping the whole top eliptic...........0.2..0
ditto leaves only.......................0.1..6
ditto double eliptic....................0.3..0
each extra fly..........................0.1..4
Polishing the frame.....................0.1..0
ditto the underside of the leaves.......0.0..6
when the price of making table exceeds one pound twelve,
the frame to be polished
The term "claw" in the heading refers not to the lion's-paw foot, as one might expect, but to the shape of the downswept leg. The first reference to the term appears in pattern books of the late eighteenth century. It is interesting to note that there was an option to polish the underside of the leaves, the current tendency of which is to leave them unfinished. The turned drops that embellish these tables, Charles Montgomery hypothesized, were vestiges of pembroke table legs much as the turned drops on Queen Anne high chests recall the legs on their William and Mary forebearers (American Furniture (New York, 1966), fig. 332).
These tables were used in the period as pembroke tables, as noted above, breakfast tables, and card tables. They were stored in hallways or in the formal parlors, and pulled out into the room when needed.
A related table is illustrated as "Superior" by Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture (New York, 1993), p. 279. See also, Conger, fig. 143; Cornelius, Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe (New York, 1923), pl. XXIX, Montgomery, fig. 332. ÿ
"Pillar and Claw Pembroke Tables," as they were termed in the period, were described in the 1810 New York Revised Prices for Manufacturing Cabinet and Chair-work as follows, the description of which closely adhears to this example and again underscores the popularity and prevalance of this particular form in New York:
one fly on each side, four claws........2.0..6 rounding the corners of the leaves......0.10.0
shaping the whole top eliptic...........0.2..0
ditto leaves only.......................0.1..6
ditto double eliptic....................0.3..0
each extra fly..........................0.1..4
Polishing the frame.....................0.1..0
ditto the underside of the leaves.......0.0..6
when the price of making table exceeds one pound twelve,
the frame to be polished
The term "claw" in the heading refers not to the lion's-paw foot, as one might expect, but to the shape of the downswept leg. The first reference to the term appears in pattern books of the late eighteenth century. It is interesting to note that there was an option to polish the underside of the leaves, the current tendency of which is to leave them unfinished. The turned drops that embellish these tables, Charles Montgomery hypothesized, were vestiges of pembroke table legs much as the turned drops on Queen Anne high chests recall the legs on their William and Mary forebearers (American Furniture (New York, 1966), fig. 332).
These tables were used in the period as pembroke tables, as noted above, breakfast tables, and card tables. They were stored in hallways or in the formal parlors, and pulled out into the room when needed.
A related table is illustrated as "Superior" by Albert Sack, The New Fine Points of Furniture (New York, 1993), p. 279. See also, Conger, fig. 143; Cornelius, Masterpieces of Duncan Phyfe (New York, 1923), pl. XXIX, Montgomery, fig. 332. ÿ