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Work Table

1800–1810
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 732
The lower drawer of this worktable, or sewing table, is a slide with a frame fitted with a silk bag for holding needlework. These small but often beautifully conceived tables were used in parlors, sitting rooms, and bedrooms. In the early nineteenth century, ornamental painting was part of the curriculum of girls’ schools, and the skill frequently extended to the decoration of light-wood tables and boxes. A New England schoolgirl probably executed this example’s painted decoration of classical draped figures, festooned leaves, and entwined vines.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Work Table
  • Date: 1800–1810
  • Geography: Made in New England, United States
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Bird’s-eye maple, mahogany with yellow poplar,
    white pine
  • Dimensions: 29 3/4 x 19 x 16 1/8 in. (75.6 x 48.3 x 41 cm)
  • Credit Line: Sansbury-Mills Fund, 1954
  • Object Number: 54.81
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Card table, Charles-Honoré Lannuier American, Mahogany veneer, white pine, yellow poplar, gilded gesso, vert antique, and gilded brass, American
Card table
Charles-Honoré Lannuier
1817
Side Chair, Maple, ash, American
Side Chair
American
1800–1830
Pier table, Charles-Honoré Lannuier American, Rosewood veneer, gilded gesso, brass, white metal, marble, glass with mahogany, ash, white pine, yellow poplar, American
Pier table
Charles-Honoré Lannuier
1815–19
Pier table, Joseph B. Barry and Son American, Mahogany, mahogany veneer, satinwood, amboyna, pine, gilt bronze with yellow poplar, American
Pier table
Joseph B. Barry and Son
1810–15
Side Chair, Benjamin Henry Latrobe American, born England, Yellow poplar, oak, maple, white pine, gold leaf, and gesso, American
Side Chair
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1808

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