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Tray-Top Table

Decorative Arts and Design

Mahogany sourced from estates in the Caribbean was sent to ports along the Atlantic seaboard, including Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There, cabinetmaking workshops owned by British-born or British-descended settlers such as Robert Harrold of Portsmouth copied fashionable designs from England to produce furniture for wealthy white merchants and landowners.
MEDIUM Mahogany and mahogany veneer
DATES ca. 1770
DIMENSIONS 29 1/4 x 34 1/2 x 23 1/2in. (74.3 x 87.6 x 59.7cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Yellowed paper adhesive label with a red border declares the piece as property of Mr. M.S. Sloan. On the underside of the piece "456.R" is written in chalk. On the right side of the piece, inscribed in red paint are the numbers "14-1924-21".
ACCESSION NUMBER 1997.150.16
CREDIT LINE Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Tea Table, tray top, mahogany and mahogany veneer, Chippendale style. Scallop-rimmed rectangular top and four legs joined by crossed arch stretchers with a pierced flame-shaped finial at the crossing. Undecorated apron of mahogany veneer with single bands of applied molding around the top and bottom. Pierced fretwork brackets support each leg at the top corner. The crossed stretchers themselves are made up of two opposing, molded C-scrolls. The outer sides of the rectangular legs are molded; the inner sides are chamfered along the edge. The four castors which are not original to the table have been removed.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Attributed to Robert Harrold (American, born England, 18th century). Tray-Top Table, ca. 1770. Mahogany and mahogany veneer, 29 1/4 x 34 1/2 x 23 1/2in. (74.3 x 87.6 x 59.7cm). Brooklyn Museum, Matthew Scott Sloan Collection, Gift of Lidie Lane Sloan McBurney, 1997.150.16. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1997.150.16_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 1997.150.16_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2012
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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