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Lot Essay
Elegantly executed with clean angles and delicate bookend and bellflower inlay, this table is an exceptional example of the Federal Pembroke design crafted by master cabinetmaker John Townsend (1733-1809) in late eighteenth century Newport, Rhode Island.
By the mid-1790s, Townsend had fully embraced the Federal style, an offshoot of English Neoclassicism that gained popularity in America in the 1780s with the publication of pattern books by British cabinetmakers George Hepplewhite (1727?-1786), Thomas Shearer (w. 1780-1800) and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). This table is one of eleven examples in the Federal style that bear Townsend's neatly printed paper label (fig. 1).
These pieces share the same recognizable cross brace and precise joinery found in his earlier cabriole-leg and stop fluted tables. However, unlike earlier examples dating from the late 1780s and early 1790s, this table, dated to 1797, is a fully realized example of Townsend's final Pembroke design. Distinctive decorative elements from this final design evident in this piece include an oval top, crisply molded edges, elliptical end rails and drawer front that extends the full width between the legs (see Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), p. 177.).
The inlaid lightwood bookend and bellflower patterns on the stiles and legs of this table are decorative designs adopted by Townsend from a limited repertoire of Federal motifs. While the basic designs are gleaned from price books published in Philadelphia and New York in the 1780s and 1790s, it is evident that these embellishments were made in the Townsend shop as opposed to using the readily available pre-fabricated versions (Heckscher, pp. 156-157). These inlays are carefully drawn in abstract, geometric forms indicative of Townsend's hand and unique to his interpretation of the Federal decorative oeuvre. The drawer of this table is offset by two horizontal bands of lightwood stringing that terminate abruptly at the stiles, a feature unique to Townsend's last Pembroke design (Heckscher, p. 177).
For similar examples, see Christie's, New York, 5 October 2000, lot 124, J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection (Washington, D.C., 1986), pp. 172-173 and Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1954), p. 126, fig. 3.46.
By the mid-1790s, Townsend had fully embraced the Federal style, an offshoot of English Neoclassicism that gained popularity in America in the 1780s with the publication of pattern books by British cabinetmakers George Hepplewhite (1727?-1786), Thomas Shearer (w. 1780-1800) and Thomas Sheraton (1751-1806). This table is one of eleven examples in the Federal style that bear Townsend's neatly printed paper label (fig. 1).
These pieces share the same recognizable cross brace and precise joinery found in his earlier cabriole-leg and stop fluted tables. However, unlike earlier examples dating from the late 1780s and early 1790s, this table, dated to 1797, is a fully realized example of Townsend's final Pembroke design. Distinctive decorative elements from this final design evident in this piece include an oval top, crisply molded edges, elliptical end rails and drawer front that extends the full width between the legs (see Morrison H. Heckscher, John Townsend: Newport Cabinetmaker (New York, 2005), p. 177.).
The inlaid lightwood bookend and bellflower patterns on the stiles and legs of this table are decorative designs adopted by Townsend from a limited repertoire of Federal motifs. While the basic designs are gleaned from price books published in Philadelphia and New York in the 1780s and 1790s, it is evident that these embellishments were made in the Townsend shop as opposed to using the readily available pre-fabricated versions (Heckscher, pp. 156-157). These inlays are carefully drawn in abstract, geometric forms indicative of Townsend's hand and unique to his interpretation of the Federal decorative oeuvre. The drawer of this table is offset by two horizontal bands of lightwood stringing that terminate abruptly at the stiles, a feature unique to Townsend's last Pembroke design (Heckscher, p. 177).
For similar examples, see Christie's, New York, 5 October 2000, lot 124, J. Michael Flanigan, American Furniture from the Kaufman Collection (Washington, D.C., 1986), pp. 172-173 and Michael Moses, Master Craftsmen of Newport (Tenafly, New Jersey, 1954), p. 126, fig. 3.46.