Drop-leaf Pembroke table, 1790–1800
John Townsend (American, 1733–1809)
Newport, Rhode Island
Mahogany, satinwood, chestnut; 27 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 33 1/8 in. (69.2 x 92.7 x 84.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Carl De La Cour, Jr., 1980 (1980.293)
Technical Glossary
John Townsend (American, 1733–1809)
Newport, Rhode Island
Mahogany, satinwood, chestnut; 27 1/4 x 36 1/2 x 33 1/8 in. (69.2 x 92.7 x 84.1 cm)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Carl De La Cour, Jr., 1980 (1980.293)
In the 1790s, John Townsend began making furniture—primarily Pembroke tables and card tables—in the new Neoclassical style. Tapered legs with inlaid lightwood veneers—usually bookends over carrots (as here) or bellflowers—replaced the stop-fluted straight legs found on his earlier pieces. Although the precise and elegant interior construction that is one of this cabinetmaker's signatures as a craftsman did not change, Townsend documented his authorship by pasting his label inside the drawer.
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Related Index Terms
Art Movement/Style
Artist
Material and Technique
- • Wood, Furniture
- • Wood, Furniture, North America
- • Wood, organized by type
- • Wood, organized by type, Chestnut
- • Wood, organized by type, Exotic woods
- • Wood, organized by type, Mahogany
