Label Type
Object LabelLabel
Toilet table, 1800-1815
New England, probably Saco
probably pine, painted
Found in the collection
Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
The use of simply constructed toilet tables in the bedchambers of socially prominent women in the later 18th and early 19th centuries has been documented in many places including coastal towns from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Portland, Maine. Often these tables had skirts – either rich fabrics or simple cottons - tacked around the perimeter of the overhanging top and a decorative textile covering that conformed to the shape of the tabletop. Not all toilet tables were draped with fabric however. Details such as molded legs, the absence of tack holes, and multiple layers of paint relating to the ongoing redecoration of a particular room, indicate that some tables relied on a fresh coat of paint for their impact and may never have had a fabric covering.
The history of ownership of this table is now lost. However,
Sarah Cutts Thornton (1774-1845) owned three toilet tables which were each appraised at fifty cents in her probate inventory, far less than the card tables also found in the same bedchambers. The possibility remains that this table was one of those listed in Sarah Cutts Thornton’s inventory and made its way to the York Institute long ago through one of her descendants. In Daniel Cleaves’ probate inventory taken after his death in December 1817, there is a listing for “1 woman dressing table”, valued at $3. Most of the furniture listed before and after the dressing table is specified as “mahogany” and worth considerably more. A “mahogany light stand,” at $2.50 is the closest in value, but that would indicate a small table intended to hold a candlestick. If the “woman dressing table” retained a cloth skirt and textile covering on the top, its increased value would have been reflected in the inventory, as would the fact that it may have been relatively new in 1817. The possibility remains that this toilet table could be the one owned by Daniel Cleaves and may have descended through his family until its acquisition by the York Institute.