Images(3)

Dining table end

Date1820-1840

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, central (possibly Madison County)

MediumCherry, white pine, and iron

DimensionsOH: 28 ¾”; OW: 36 ½”; D (closed): 17 ½”; OD (open): 28 3/8”

Credit LineGift of Mack and Sharon Cox

Object number2026-14

DescriptionTable with double elliptic shaped top with squared edge overhanging skirt of same shape with bead at lower edge; four turned, tapered legs with ring turning at top of rounded portion and rectangular block at rail, and one ring turning over a bulbous ankle at feet; short rectangular drop leaf hinged at back, supported when open with short swing rail with finger joint and angled end from center of rear skirt; cherry veneered shaped skirt composed of four horizontally laminated white pine boards; rear rail composed of three boards, inner, medial, and rear rails. Inscription: modern pencil or crayon “$56.00” on inside of rear rail; top attached to frame with screws in screw pockets in rails.Label TextThis table is the size of a card table yet has a drop leaf indicating it was likely used with a second example to form a small dining table. Dining tables, however, were typically built on a larger (wider and deeper) scale and had D-shaped or demi-lune ends. The double elliptic shape of this tabletop was more typically seen on card tables, especially from Philadelphia, but also on a Kentucky example in a private collection with a history in the Rodes family of Danville. That Kentucky card table shares similar construction details to this dining table end. Both have white pine secondary wood (an unusual choice for Kentucky) as well as the four-ply horizontally laminated curved rails and three rather than two rear rails. Neither of the Kentucky tables are quite as refined as the known Philadelphia examples of the 1790-1810 period, but they were likely strongly influenced by imported examples or the knowledge of cabinetmakers moving into central Kentucky.ProvenanceAcquired by Hallie Coy Cox of Little Eagle Antiques, Richmond, KY, likely in or near Madison Co, Kentucky 1930s-1960s; purchased at Swinebroad-Denton auction, Lexington, Kentucky Oct. 18-19, 1996, by antique dealer Clifton (Andy) Anderson; purchased by Mack and Sharon Cox (grandson of Hallie Coy Cox) c.2025