Dressing Table
Original OwnerPossibly originally owned by the
Bicknell family
(American)
Furniture MakerMade by
Willard Group
(American)
Date1770-1790
MediumCherry primary wood, eastern white pine secondary wood, brass hardware
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width x depth ): 32 x 39 1/8 x 22 1/2in. (81.3 x 99.4 x 57.2cm)
ClassificationsFurniture
Credit LineGift of Frederick K. and Margaret R. Barbour
Object number1964.33.3
DescriptionCherry dressing table in the Queen Anne, or late baroque, style, with local characteristics associated with Wethersfield style production, specifically the Willard group. The top has a wide overhang and ovolo, or thumbnail, molding on all sides. The drawer arrangement consists of one shallow, wide drawer over three narrow, deeper drawers. The lower drawers are of equal height, and the central drawer has a small carved shell with twenty tightly carved rays. The front skirt has two small central hanging half-circles flanked by a small horizontal, a small raised arch, a second small horizontal, and then a large cyma curve, or S-curve. Each side skirt has a medium-size central raised arch, flanked by a small horizontal, and a medium-size cyma curve. The cabriole legs are slender, and each ends in a pad foot. Hardware includes a blind brass lock escutcheon centered on the top drawer and flanked by brass escutcheons with bail pulls. The lower side drawers each have a single brass escutcheon with a bail pull; the lower central drawer has a brass knob centered near the bottom of the shell.
Condition: The top of the dressing table has been flattened through the use of screws inserted at an angle from the backboard and through strips of wood positioned lengthwise along the underside of the middle and behind the front rail. Not all knee returns are original. The right lower drawer bottom is replaced. The tone of the finish has been evened out. The bottom of the top drawer has ink stains on the interior surface. The hardware appears to be original.
Design and Construction Details: The top is formed by two boards connected with a half-lap joint; it is attached to the case with wooden pins. The case is made with mortise-and-tenon construction. The backboard is tenoned into the leg posts. There is a rail above the top drawer. The front and side skirts have a pronounced chamfer on the inner edges. The knee returns are cyma curved, applied to the underside of the skirt, and canted on the inside. Each pad foot is shaped like a shallow bowl; its supporting disc is a well-defined truncated cone, without a chamfer around the bottom edge. The drawer divider is attached to the posts with single exposed dovetails. The vertical partitions between the lower drawers are also attached with single exposed dovetails. The drawer runners are tenoned into the backboard. The drawer fronts are lip-molded; the drawer sides are rounded on top. The drawer bottoms fit into grooves in the sides of each drawer; the underside of each drawer bottom shows frame saw marks. The dovetail pins are larger than normal, with a sharp angle and long, coarse kerfs.
Condition: The top of the dressing table has been flattened through the use of screws inserted at an angle from the backboard and through strips of wood positioned lengthwise along the underside of the middle and behind the front rail. Not all knee returns are original. The right lower drawer bottom is replaced. The tone of the finish has been evened out. The bottom of the top drawer has ink stains on the interior surface. The hardware appears to be original.
Design and Construction Details: The top is formed by two boards connected with a half-lap joint; it is attached to the case with wooden pins. The case is made with mortise-and-tenon construction. The backboard is tenoned into the leg posts. There is a rail above the top drawer. The front and side skirts have a pronounced chamfer on the inner edges. The knee returns are cyma curved, applied to the underside of the skirt, and canted on the inside. Each pad foot is shaped like a shallow bowl; its supporting disc is a well-defined truncated cone, without a chamfer around the bottom edge. The drawer divider is attached to the posts with single exposed dovetails. The vertical partitions between the lower drawers are also attached with single exposed dovetails. The drawer runners are tenoned into the backboard. The drawer fronts are lip-molded; the drawer sides are rounded on top. The drawer bottoms fit into grooves in the sides of each drawer; the underside of each drawer bottom shows frame saw marks. The dovetail pins are larger than normal, with a sharp angle and long, coarse kerfs.
Status
Not on view
