Pier Table Top

Date1805-1815

OriginAmerica, Kentucky, Frankfort (probably)

MediumLimestone (Dolomitic)

DimensionsOW: 36 7/8”; OD: 20 5/8”

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund

Object number2015-347,B

DescriptionDemi-lune dolomitic limestone table top; flat along back edge; molded along curved edge; uneven bottom shaped and smoothed only where supported by table frame; hole in front center of top where pin orients it onto table frame.Label TextSlab or stone top tables from Kentucky are quite rare at this early date. The dolomitic limestone used for the top was known as "Kentucky River Marble." It was quarried in the 19th century by inmates of the Kentucky River Penitentiary in Frankfort. Surviving documents indicate that the prisoners quarried, cut, and polished the stone to sell locally for building materials and table tops. The proceeds benefitted the prison rather than the prisoners.ProvenanceDescended in the Shackelford family of Madison County, Kentucky.

Stone quaried by Kentucky Penitentary inmates from the banks of the Kentucky river in Frankfort, KY.