Table, Dressing
- Object Name:
- Table, Dressing
- Object ID:
- 1922.002
- Place of Origin:
- New Hampshire
- Date:
- 1750-1770
- Description:
- Dressing Table. Two-piece rectangular top with molded front and side edges and transverse and cleats mitred at front. Top extends beyond frame 2.6" at ends, 3" at front, and 2.75" at back. Two half-width drawers with a row of three narrow drawers below. Lower drawers almost twice as high as upper drawers. Central lower drawer carved with fan. Each drawer has molded edges. Case finished at bottom with three flat-headed arches and turned drops. Recessed area on lower front rail beneath fan. Four cabriole legs with sharp knees, scrolled end brackets and club feet, each with a distinct hock above. Large brass knob at center of fan on central drawer. Each of the other drawers has a brass handle consisting of a small but elaborately shaped plate, impressed in imitation of chasing, and a bail with bulbous center. Legs and ends of case maple. Remainder of primary wood walnut. Evidence of former dark brown or black stain, which is most obvious on parts made of maple. Drawers numbered on upper edge of left sides. An illegible chalk mark on inner surface of each drawer back. Chalk inscription on outer surface of one upper drawer back: "hundred forty seven".
- Material:
- Wood
Walnut
Maple
Brass - Dimensions:
- H-30.25 W-35.25 D-22 inches
- Provenance:
- Given in memory of Silas Gibson, the donors' father, who was "for many years a resident of Nashua, New Hampshire". According to the donors, the "lowboy was used before it came into our father's possession --by the Rev. Mr. Kidder one of the first ministers of Nashua." The Rev. Joseph Kidder (1741-1818), born in Billerica, MA, settled in Dunstable (now Nashua), NH in 1766. The following year he married Mary (White) Badger (1738-1835) of Haverhill, MA. Silas Gibson (1802-1895) operated a tavern in Nashua, opposite Kidder's former residence. One of the previous operators of the tavern is believed to have been Kidder's son-in-law, William F. Boynton. Kidder's wife, whose dowry is said to have included a sideboard "imported from England," outlived her husband and "for sixteen years received aid from the Widow's Charitable Fund of this state." Donor's father probably acquired dressing table either through Kidder's impoverished widow or through the son-in-law.
- Credit Line:
- Gift of Ann Augusta Robinson and Emma Elizabeth Gibson Ames, in Memory of Silas Gibson
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