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Center Table

1850–60
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 736
With its profusion of scrolls punctuated by carved and pierced fruit and flowers, this center table exemplifies the fashionable Rococo Revival style, variously described at the time as "Modern French" or "Antique French." It likely was made in John Henry Belter’s New York City cabinetmaking shop. Center tables were focal points of mid-nineteenth-century parlors. The marble tops provided a durable surface on which to place oil lamps and beverages as well as books or other objects for display. The brass castors on the table’s feet facilitated easy movement across the room to accommodate a range of activities and gatherings.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Center Table
  • Date: 1850–60
  • Medium: Rosewood, ash (secondary wood), marble
  • Dimensions: H. 28 1/2 in. (72.4 cm); Diam. 36 1/2 in. (92.7 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Mary E. Steers, 1961
  • Object Number: 61.230
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
Center Table, Pottier and Stymus Manufacturing Company, Rosewood, walnut, gilding, marble, brass, glazed ceramic tile, American
Center Table
Attributed to Pottier and Stymus Manufacturing Company
1870–75
Sofa, John Henry Belter American, Rosewood, Rosewood veneer; chestnut, pine (secondary woods); modern upholstery with some original underupholstery, American
Sofa
John Henry Belter
or J. H. Belter & Co.
1850–60
Center table, Gustave Herter German (Stuttgart, principality of Württemberg), Rosewood, rosewood veneer, maple, burled wood, ash (secondary wood), brass, and scagliola, American
Center table
Gustave Herter
ca. 1860
Game Table, Thomas Day American, Cherry, mahogany veneer, mahogany, conifer (secondary wood), American
Game Table
Attributed to Thomas Day
ca. 1850
Center Table, Anthony G. Quervelle American, Mahogany, intarsia marble, brass, American
Center Table
Anthony G. Quervelle
ca. 1830

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