Breakfast table

Status

Not on view

Label Text

Eighteenth-century households used breakfast tables for a variety of activities, from serving breakfast, tea and other light repasts to sewing, reading, and writing. Their small and compact design made them convenient and easy to store. Family tradition maintains this breakfast table was once the property of George Washington.

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Date1785-1800

Geography Possibly made - United States

Medium/TechniqueMahogany (top, legs, veneer), yellow pine (inner side rails, drawer runners), light-wood (inlay), ebonized wood (inlay)

DimensionsOverall (closed): 28 7/8 in. x 32 1/4 in. x 20 1/2 in. (73.34 cm x 81.92 cm x 52.07 cm) Overall (open): 28 7/8 in. x 32 1/4 in. x 40 1/4 in. (73.34 cm x 81.92 cm x 102.24 cm)

Credit LineGift of Edward French Warren, Annette Warren Sirmon and Helen Warren Finch in honor of Dudley Thompson, 1982

Object numberW-2648

DescriptionOval-top breakfast or pembroke table with inlaid decoration on four, square, tapered legs; one real and one false drawer; three-board top with single light-wood stringing at perimeter and double light-wood stringing on edge; each leaf meets the center board in a rule joint and is secured with two iron butt hinges; overhanging center board glued and screwed to frame; rectangular frame with bowed and laminated end rail, bowed drawer rail, and straight, double-railed sides, the outer side rails are divided into three sections: the left-hand section is glued and nailed to the inner rail and is attached to the center section or fly rail with a five-finger hinge, the right-hand section is also glued and nailed to the inner rail; end and drawer rails are veneered with figured mahogany; drawer front features double light-wood stringing at perimeter, end rail inlaid with matching stringing; an alternating band of light and dark inlay runs along the bottom of end and drawer rails and continues across the tops of legs to terminate at the side rails; lower portion of legs outlined with single-string inlay ending at light-wood cuffs; end rail and drawer front with one oval stamped brass handle at center.
Published ReferencesJames C. Rees, Treasures from Mount Vernon: George Washington Revealed (Mount Vernon, VA: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, 1999), 77.

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