Bureau table

Status

Not on view

Date1725-1750

Geography Made - England

Medium/TechniqueWalnut veneer, walnut (primary), oak (drawers, drawer stops), unidentified softwood (case, dustboards), unidentified hardwood (recessed cabinet section case), brass

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 29 3/8 in. x 30 1/2 in. x 18 1/2 in. (74.61 cm x 77.47 cm x 46.99 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Frank Babbott, 1972

Object numberM-2612

DescriptionDesign:
Bureau table with rectangular top having indented front corners and molded edges overhanging the front and sides, one long drawer over two columns of three narrow drawers flanking a recessed prospect door, narrow chamfered front corners ending in a lamb’s tongue at bottom, an ogee base molding, and straight bracket feet with ogee knee-brackets. The drawer fronts are cock-beaded and veneered with burl walnut and geometric banding. The prospect door is veneered, with geometric banding outlining an astragal-headed central reserve and the framing arch above it. The arched valance is cock-beaded and veneered. The front edges of the case sides are covered with a crossbanded veneer. The bail handles (two on the top drawer; one on each of the narrow drawers) are engraved with three buds or thistles on their plates.
Case Construction:
The case’s top and bottom are dovetailed to the sides. The top is fully veneered, including the underside of the overhanging edges. Full depth dustboards (those supporting the smaller drawers are two pieces of side-to-side grain boards glued together) are slid into dados in the case and prospect section sides; they are planed on the upper sides. Veneer facing strips on the front of the case sides and blades conceal the join of the drawer blade and sides. Pairs of thin rectangular blocks with chamfered rear corners are glued to the front of the dustboards. Narrow boards are glued just under the front of the dustboards, and are notched at front to receive locks. The recessed cabinet section, built as a self-contained, dovetailed box and slid into place, had two plain shelves (the upper is missing). The prospect door is constructed of three tongue-and-groove joined boards, one wide between two narrow, and is hinged to the inside of the case. The arched valance is screwed to the underside of the top. Three vertical backing boards are nailed into a rabbet at the case top and proper left side, glued in the rabbet on the proper right side, and flush-nailed on the bottom. Wrought nails are used on the proper left side and bottom, but the remainder are cut and wire. The base molding is glued to the case bottom. The bracket feet are of one piece with the knee brackets and are mitered at the corners, glued to the undersides of the molding, and braced with single, vertical glue blocks. The flat-arched, shaped aprons on the front and sides are butt-joined between the feet. The triangular back feet are nailed and glued to supporting glue blocks.
Drawer Construction:
The drawers exhibit dovetailed construction. Each veneered drawer front is a separate board applied to the dovetailed drawer front. Cock-beading is nailed to the sides. The bottoms are reinforced with mitered strips of wood glued to the front and sides and are flush-nailed at back. The top drawer bottom is composed of three boards with front-to-back grain orientation; the narrow drawers each have single board bottoms of front-to-back grain orientation. Narrow boards are glued to the inside front and back of the lower proper left drawer.

Published References

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