Federal Dressing Table (423)

This is a ladys dressing table that probably belonged to Margaret Maria Livingston. It was built in New York sometime around 1800. And its a good example of the fact that after the United States won its independence, it still looked back to Europe for inspiration in art and design. This piece was probably built by following a pattern in a book written by Thomas Sheraton, a famous English furniture designer. The book is known as the Cabinet Makers and Upholsterers Drawing Book. Customers in the young nation felt that English furniture makers did the best work, and they wanted furniture built in America to have the high English quality and latest English designs. This table is mostly mahogany, with white pine and poplar used on the interior and other light woods for the inlay. Sheraton described the table as a piece of furniture that "contains every requisite for a lady to dress at." There are seven drawers you can easily see, and inside the cabinets are banks of smaller drawers and pigeonholes. Above the large center drawer you can slide out a flat leather-covered writing surface. And when you pull out the center drawer, it contains a round cutout to fit a washbasin. The rounded bottom sections of the dressing table have sliding doors revealing storage space. e only know of two dressing tables of this design built in America. The Historical Society is fortunate to have acquired this one from Mrs. Livingstons descendants.

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