Pier table

Status

Not on view

Label Text

Commonly set between two windows and in front of a "pier glass" or mirror, pier tables were ideally suited for entertaining in the parlor or dining room. Its marble top, impervious to liquid, offered an attractive and resilient surface from which drinks and food could be served. Family tradition maintains that this pier table was owned by George Washington.

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Date1790-1815

Geography Made - United States

Medium/TechniqueMahogany (legs, veneer), yellow poplar (corner rails), black walnut (front rail, side rails), white pine (rear rail), marble

DimensionsOverall: 36 3/4 in. x 41 in. x 20 3/4 in. (93.35 cm x 104.14 cm x 52.71 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Scott Laughton, Regent and Vice Regent for Pennsylvania, 1891

Object numberW-80

DescriptionMarble-top, ovolo-corner, rectangular pier table on four, square, tapering legs reeded on their pilasters and exterior faces. Mahogany-veneered frame with an applied bead along bottom front and side edges; its solid straight front and side rails are screwed to bowed corner rails with four horizontal laminations, the side rails are tenoned to the straight solid rear rail. No evidence of internal bracing or support for top.

Conforming grey marble top with squared edges.
Published ReferencesThomas Birch's Sons Auctioneers, This Valuable and Extraordinary Collection of the Effecs of General George Washington and of his Executor and Nephew, Lawrence Lewis, and Grand-Nephew, Lorenzo Lewis, is Sold by Order of H.L.D. Lewis, Administrator of the Estate of Mrs. Lorenzo Lewis, and Embraces: Washington's Private Account Books, Letters and Documents; Washington's Personal Effects ... A Number of Books from Washington's Library ... the ... Library of Lawrence Lewis ... and the Library of Lorenzo Lewis ... to be Sold… December 10, 11, 12, 1890, Sales Catalogue No. 657 (Philadelphia: Thomas Birch's Sons Auctioneers, 1890), Lot # 87.

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