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Marble slab table

Marble slab table,
1740-1780,
Black walnut, marble
Marble slab table
Marble slab table,
1740-1780,
Black walnut, marble
Marble slab table, 1740-1780, Black walnut, marble
Status
On view
Label Text

This side table is thought to be one of the "2 marble Tables" listed in George Washington's probate inventory. Its possible early date of manufacture suggests it may have belonged to Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis (who died in 1757), and was brought to Mount Vernon upon her marriage to George Washington in 1759. Its marble top, impervious to liquid, made it an attractive and resilient surface from which to serve food and drink. Although it likely furnished a dining room or parlor for many decades, its location in the third floor garret at the time of the Washingtons' deaths indicates it was outmoded by that time.

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Date1740-1780
Geography Possibly made - United StatesPossibly made - England
Medium/TechniqueBlack walnut, marble
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 29 7/8 in. × 48 1/4 in. × 25 7/8 in. (75.88 cm × 122.56 cm × 65.72 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, 1950 Conservation courtesy of The Founders, Washington Committee Endowment Fund
Object numberW-1546
DescriptionMarble-top, rectangular side table on four cabriole legs with creased knees terminating in pad feet on disks. The plain rails are carved with ogee drops at their ends and tenoned and double-pegged to the legs. Ogee and astragal molding is glued and nailed along the outer top and bottom edges of all the rails. Several drilled holes exist in the tops of the rails, but no additional evidence of internal bracing or support for top.

Rectangular, grey-veined white marble top with overhanging, ogee-molded edges on all four sides.


Published ReferencesHelen Maggs Fede, Washington Furniture at Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, 1966), 23-24.

Marion Day Iverson, The American Chair, 1630-1890 (New York: Hastings House, 1957), 205-206, fig. 158.
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
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