Dressing Table
Period1730 - 1760
MediumCherry, tulip, and hard pine
Dimensions28.13 × 34 × 21.75 in. (71.4 × 86.4 × 55.2 cm)
InscribedAn engraved brass plaque is attached to the back of the table. It reads, "Purchased from the estate of / Miss Mary Taylor / Middletown, N.J., August 1931 / Presented to the Monmouth County Historical Association by / Mrs. J. Amory Haskell."
ClassificationsTables and Stands
Credit LineGift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1931
Object number20
DescriptionA dressing table that features a deep overhanging top constructed with two boards and enriched with molded edges and shaped front corners. Five drawers are arranged in two rows. The upper central drawer is flanked by two smaller ones. Two lower drawers align with those of the same size above them. All have thumbnail molded edges and original brass bails with large backplates. A brass escutcheon with lock was installed on the center drawer. The table's boldly curved and arched skirt profile, laid out with a compass, is accentuated by applied cockbeading fastened with rosehead nails. Four delicate cabriole legs taper to unique upturned and pointed feet.Curatorial RemarksFor quality and individuality, few New Jersey dressing tables can equal this example from the Taylor family of Middletown, Monmouth County. The feet point upward in a manner that has been attributed since the 1940s to furniture from the Middletown area. More specifically, they are part of a local furniture subgroup in which the joiner lacked advanced carving skills. For comparison, see accession numbers 1991.611, 1995.531, and 2017.706. Drawer construction also follows local practice. The drawer sides are higher in profile than the drawer back, and are rounded on their upper edges. They are also dominant over the drawer back in that they continue to the rear surface of the drawer and the back fits between them. For other examples of this local cabinetmaking practice, see detail images for accession numbers 1982.409, 1995.531, and 2017.706. Additional features of this dressing table link it to other examples of furniture from the Middletown area. These include the use of applied cockbeading along the edge of the skirts, and the inclusion of half circles in the center of the skirt design. For another related dressing table from the Taylor family of Middletown, see accession number 1995.531. Its skirt has the same sequence of curves and cuts as this one, but flattened out to accommodate two full width rows of drawers above it.NotesMiss Mary Holmes Taylor (1850 - 1930) resided at Orchard Home, a large and stately structure built in 1853 at the northern end of Kings Highway in Middletown village, Monmouth County. The property had been owned by the Taylors since 1771, when purchased by her great-great-grandfather Edward. It included Marlpit Hall, an early family residence that had arrived at its current size in the mid-eighteenth century. In fact, her Taylor ancestors had occupied several large, contiguous farms on this end of the village for generations. Orchard Home, now called the Taylor-Butler House and owned by the Association, was filled with inherited family heirlooms at the time of Miss Taylor's death in 1930. Today it is difficult if not impossible to know how these items descended in the family as her mother's Taylor line owned Marlpit Hall, but her father's line had an even more prestigious home only a few hundred feet away. Joseph Dorsett Taylor (1802 - 1864) married his first cousin Mary Holmes Taylor (1814 - 1897) in 1846. As per the will of their daughter, all of Orchard Home's contents were sold at auction on 20 August 1931. The auction advertisement in the Red Bank Register listed a "Queen Anne highboy and low boy," or what today we call a high chest and dressing table respectively. The sale attracted a large crowd of about 500 persons, and bidding was spirited. A review of the sale mentioned that it "was one of the largest of its kind held in Monmouth county in recent years and it was notable for the great quantity of antique furniture disposed of. . . A highboy was sold for $950 and a lowboy for $392." Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, a pre-eminent Americana collector who also lived in Middletown, purchased both pieces. In preparation for the opening the Association's new museum in Freehold, Mrs. Haskell donated the lowboy or dressing table to the organization on 12 October, only seven weeks after acquiring it and eight days before the museum opened to the public. The dressing table was the first important piece of locally made furniture acquired by the Association.
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