image of object
From: Michael Moses Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, N.J.: MMI Americana Press, 1984), 127, fig. 3.48
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Pembroke table

Object number

RIF146

Maker

Maker Unknown

Dimensions

27 × 34 1/2 in. (68.58 × 87.63 cm)

Date

1785–1805

Current location

Private collection

Geography

Made in Rhode Island
(view a map of Rhode Island)

Medium

Mahogany and light wood inlay (primary); maple (hinged rails); white pine (stationary rails, drawer supports and guides, kick board, and drawer linings)

Marks

None

Inscriptions

None

Style

Hepplewhite, Federal

Provenance

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, June 23, 1972, lot 242. Private collection, by 1984

Construction

The top is attached to the frame with screws?two each in the stationary rails and one in the rear rail, all in screw pockets, and one through the front rail. A kick board, to keep the drawer from tipping when open, abuts the front rail at the center and is nailed to the underside of the top. The stationary rails are nailed to the hinged rails from the interior; they overhang the rear legs slightly. The drawer supports abut the front rails and are nailed to the stationary rails; the adjacent drawer guides are glued to the stationary rails. Drawer stops are nailed to the stationary rails near the ends of the drawer supports. The drawer front is fastened to the drawer sides with half keys at the top and bottom and full dovetails in between. The drawer bottom fits into grooves in the front and sides and is nailed to the underside of the back; glue blocks reinforce the joint of the sides and bottom. The teeth of the hinges are square; the leaf supports have slanted faces with a handhold scooped out of the underside with a corresponding scoop on the fixed part of the hinged rail. A combination of rosehead and cut nails is used throughout. Examined by P. E. Kane, September 7, 2003

Bibliography

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Fine American Furniture: Chinese Export and Other Porcelains and Decorations, sale cat. (June 23, 1972), 41, lot 242, ill.
Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport: The Townsends and Goddards (Tenafly, N.J.: MMI Americana Press, 1984), 127, fig. 3.48–3.48a.