Dressing Table Maker: Unknown

1700–1730

American Decorative Arts

By appointment, Hume Furniture Study

From the late seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century, dressing tables were usually made en suite with high chests and were often placed between windows to make use of available light. This dressing table includes classic Philadelphia features: the cove molding between the top and sides; the spacing between the drawers; the double brasses on the drawers; and the ogee moldings turned on the upper portions of the ball feet.

Medium

American black walnut, southern yellow pine

Dimensions

29 × 33 7/8 × 20 1/8 in. (73.6 × 86 × 51.1 cm)
other (Case): 28 1/8 × 18 3/16 in. (71.5 × 46.2 cm)

Credit Line

Mabel Brady Garvan Collection

Accession Number

1930.2056

Geography

Made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Culture

American

Period

18th century

Classification

Furniture

Disclaimer

Note: This electronic record was created from historic documentation that does not necessarily reflect the Yale University Art Gallery’s complete or current knowledge about the object. Review and updating of records is ongoing.

Provenance
According to tradition, this dressing table has a history of ownership in the Frankenfield family of Philadelphia. It was acquired by collector Howard Reifsnyder (1869–1929) of Philadelphia, and purchased at auction in 1929 by Francis P. Garvan, New York Gift in 1930 to Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn.
Bibliography
  • Dennis Andrew Carr, American Colonial Furniture: Guide to the Collection, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 2004), 5, 16, fig. 7
  • Gerald W. R. Ward, American Case Furniture in the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections at Yale University (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1988), 195, 201–3, 205, no. 97, ill
  • Walter A. Dyer, "The American Lowboy: William and Mary – Queen Anne," Antiquarian 2, no. 17 (August 1931), 34, ill
  • American Art Association, New York, Colonial Furniture: The Superb Collection of the Late Howard Reifsnyder, sale cat. (April 24–27, 1929), no. 631
Object copyright
No Copyright - United States
Additional information

Object/Work type

dressing tables

Inscriptions

The side drawers are marked "L" and "R" in pencil on the outside of the back. Written in white chalk on the outside of the right side of the left drawer is "#300R"; written in white chalk on the outside of the right side of the right drawer is "R277." A fragment of a modern newspaper, possibly from Philadelphia, is glued to the right rear corner post.

Technical metadata and APIs

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