PROBABLY VALLEY OF VIRGINIA, 1790-1810

The overall shape of this table, similar to that illustrated in plate 60 of George Hepplewhite's The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (London, 1794), shows the English influence on American design of the Federal era. The nature of the inlaid decoration, however, is unequivocably American. The simplicity of the incised detailing of the inlaid urns heading the legs and of the flowering pot centering the apron suggests that these decorative components were created in the cabinetmaker's shop rather than purchased from a professional inlay maker. This dual-role of cabinet and inlay-maker was common in post-Revolutionary America, particularly in the cabinetmaking shops of the newer urban centers. With its yellow pine and poplar secondary woods, this particular table could have been made in Maryland, west of Baltimore, but more likely Virginia or North Carolina.