Slab Table
Period1740 - 1770
MediumCherry and white pine, identified by microanalysis performed at the Center for Wood Anatomy Research, Madison, Wisconsin, and at Winterthur, both in 1977. Limestone identified by Margaret Carruthers, Museum of Natural History, New York.
Dimensions31.5 × 46.5 × 23 in. (80 × 118.1 × 58.4 cm)
ClassificationsTables and Stands
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Samuel Townsend Guilford in memory of her husband, 1944
Object number1935
DescriptionThe slab table is simply yet sturdily constructed to accomodate the heavy rectangular stone top. The plain rails include a band of molding along the top edge that is cut from the rails themselves rather than applied separately. Four slender cabriole legs end in double pad feet. The table's frame is reinforced with sturdy interior diagonal cross braces. The slab itself is polished black and white limestone, with fossilized shells clearly visible across its surface.Curatorial RemarksDesigned to be a serving table for food or drink, the form was described simply as a "frame for marble slab" in a Pennsylvania cabinetmakers' book of prices dated 1772. The stone top resisted spills and was impervious to heat. Since they were meant to be placed against the wall, these tables generally had an unfinished back rail of a secondary wood, as does this one. When compared with heavily carved, high style slab tables from Philadelphia and New York, this example is rather restrained. Its plain pad feet, still cabriole legs, and the use of cherry as a primary wood suggest a more rural interpretation of its urban counterparts. Perhaps in an effort to increase the surface of wood that would bear the weight of the limestone, the molding directly under the slab is part of the rails rather than applied. This unusual detail is carried around to the side rails of the frame as well. The use of pointed double pad feet, a relatively common feature of furniture from central New Jersey, can also be found on accession numbers 1982.409 and 1991.536.NotesThere are two different histories for this slab table. When sold in 1944 by the estate of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, it was described in the catalog as being from Louis Richmond, a prominent early antiques dealer from Freehold, Monmouth County. However, Charles Vanderveer, another Freehold dealer and collector, recalled in the 1970s that he purchased this table from an estate just outside of Princeton, Mercer County. Vanderveer then sold it to Annie Haight Kerfoot, another dealer from Freehold. Mrs. Haskell is said to have in turn purchased the table from the Kerfoot estate after 1940. The table sold again in 1944 after the death of Mrs. Haskell. It was listed and illustrated in The Americana Collection of the Late Mrs. J. Amory Haskell (New York: Parke-Bernet, 1944), Part II, catalog number 369. Purchased for $175.00, the table was donated to the Association with funds provided by Mrs. Samuel Townsend Guilford of New York City in memory of her husband. Mrs. Guilford was a friend of Mrs. Haskell. She joined several other individuals who donated Haskell Collection items to the Association, many of which had been previously on loan to its museum.
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