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Empire sideboard, scrolled splash board with flame mahogany veneer tablet; three drawers over two cabinets with veneered columns on carved hairy paw feet with leaf-covered ankle
sideboards (furniture)
mahogany (wood)
veneer
eastern white pine (wood)
Empire (style)
Sideboard
"Cherished Possessions": This sideboard is typical of Boston, Massachusetts, cabinetmaking from about 1820. Although no expense was spared in terms of the materials or quality of workmanship, there was an element of restraint that set Boston furniture apart from that of other cities. Instead of featuring bold elaborate carvings or the extensive use of brass mounts and inlays, this sideboard is designed to showcase the beautiful mahogany veneers and the clean classical lines of the form. In his influential guide to servants, The House Servant's Directory, published in 1827, the distinguished butler Robert Roberts described the best way to set up sideboards for dinner parties, suggesting they could be laid with such a degree of taste and neatness, that they will strike the eyes of every person who enters the room, with a pleasing sensation of elegance.
Highlights of the furniture collection: This sideboard is typical of Boston, Massachusetts, cabinetmaking from about 1820. Although no expense was spared in terms of the materials or quality of workmanship, there was an element of restraint that set Boston furniture apart from that of other cities. Instead of featuring bold elaborate carvings or the extensive use of brass mounts and inlays, this sideboard is designed to showcase the beautiful mahogany veneers and the clean classical lines of the form.
"Repaired by/ Israel Segal/ for/ Susan Norton/ Washington DC/ July 1975" (In graphite)
"Israel Segal/ Wash. DC/ Aug. 1975" (In graphite)
Emmons and Archbald
Boston, Massachusetts, New England
47 3/4 x 73 1/2 x 24 (HxWxD) (inches)
Bequest of Susan Norton
1990.125
Author: Stuart P. FeldPublisher: Hirschel & Adler
1821 (Nortons married in 1821 and sideboard is referenced in an 1821 letter)
Massachusetts (United States)
Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)
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