Name/Title
Table, SewingEntry/Object ID
L.2011.011.001Description
John Seymour (working, 1794-1816)
Work table
Boston
1800
Mahogany
Robert D. Mussey Jr. The Furniture Masterworks of John & Thomas Seymour. Salem, MA: Peabody Essex Museum, 2003.
The numeral "2" is inscribed in chalk on the underside of the lower-drawer bottom.
Although planar in its basic form, the apprently simple surfaces of this worktable are veneered with restrained but rich neoclassical veneer and stringing inlays. The drawer fronts are inlaid with dramatically grained crotch satinwood with formal crossbanding and stringing borders. The is echoed on teh other three case sides with simiar inlays simulating drawers. The finest work is reserved for the topm with its central panel of burl veneer bordered by a wide satinwood crossbanding. This outer border is inlaid with meticulously worked stinging in a Greek-key pattern of contasting ebony. At least six worktables or pier tables by the Seymours feature this labor-intensive inlay pattern. The edges of the top are inlaid with a typical lunette-pattern stringing, and the lion-pattern pulls are equally familiar. The turned legs are particularly fine examples of design and workmanship.
The table has survived extraordinarily well, with virtually no prior repairs (except refinishing). It is even rarer in being one of a pair, the two differing only in their hardware-pull patterns. The veneers on both tables are cut from the same flitches of veneer and placed identically on the various surfaces. The numerals "N1" and "2" (on this table) are inscribed in chalk on the matching lower-drawer bottoms, indicating that the tables may have been made for two daughters or a mother and daughter in the Sargent family, or for use in two different rooms of Mary Turner Sargent's house. It may instead have been the Seymours' original intention to sell to two different buyers but making two tables at one time resulted in economies of labor.
The table retains its original bag-slide mechanism virtually intact. The rear rail of the bag slide is grooved on its rear edge with two stips of hard exotic wood let into the grooves that project slightly beyond the front and rear rails of the slide. On other tables, these projections are small brass tabs screwed to the rear of the bag slide. These projections then fit into and slide in grooves cut into the intter, lower edges of teh front- and rear-case rails. The bag slide is supported at its front by two small, kloose tenons let into the inner edges of the right legs. The case interior is not fitted with runner strips for the lower drawer-- the top surface of the bag slide serves the same purpose. It was critical, therefore, that stops be fitted so the slide could not be completely withdrawn. Stops were typically two matching pairs of short, thin, wood strips nailed to the lower-case rails and bag rails. The stops for this mechanism rarely survive and are only partially intact on this example.
The exact reasons why the Seymours employed this bag-slide design are unknown. It seems likely the thin rails of bag slides has a tendency to warp over time, and the standard slide-runner design, therefore, would jam. The Seymours' method supported the slide only at the front and rear edges, and the sagging of the slide rails over time would not cause it to bind. Their method also allowed the lower-drawer rail on the front facade to remain thin for aesthetic harmony, rather than being built up in thickness to accomodate an extra slide-runner strip nailed on the bottom. The Seymours' version apparently resulted in its own problems and almost never survived intact or without significant alterations. It should also be noted as a construction detail that the drawer dovetails are particularly narrow, narrow-angled, and finely cut.Collection
Historic Charleston Foundation CollectionMade/Created
Artist
John Seymour (working, 1794-1816)Date made
1800Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Tertiary Object Term
Table, SewingNomenclature Secondary Object Term
Table, WorkNomenclature Primary Object Term
TableNomenclature Sub-Class
Support FurnitureNomenclature Class
FurnitureNomenclature Category
Category 02: FurnishingsCondition
Overall Condition
Very GoodIntake
Loan In
L.2011.011Lender
Mr. James BarrowDate Received
Dec 12, 2011Date Returned
Jul 1, 2012Created By
admin@catalogit.appCreate Date
July 2, 2012Updated By
admin@catalogit.appUpdate Date
November 29, 2012