Images(2)

Pier Table

Date1795-1805

Artist/Maker John Shearer

OriginAmerica, Maryland or Virginia, Berkeley County

MediumCherry and black walnut

DimensionsOH: 29 3/8"; OW: 31 7/8"; OD: 17".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1980-7

DescriptionAppearance: overhanging rectangular top with inset serpentine section in front; top molded on front and side edges; rails conform to top in plan; front rail has serpentine shaping on lower edge of central carved and sawn piercing in the form of a bowknot or "Federal knot"; side rails have shallow arch shaping on lower edges; rear rail has central lobe flanked by shallow arch shaping on lower edge; four tapered square legs have tall spade feet.

Construction: top of two butt-joined boards is secured to frame with screws set in wells from below (two on each side and one in front and rear); a diagonal medial brace was once screwed to underside of top but was attached to rails; rails are double tenoned into legs; pins of uncertain age (at least two campaigns) secure leg joints; spade feet integral with legs.

Woods: cherry top and rails, walnut legs.Label TextInscribed "Made By John Shearer from Edinburgh" on underside of top, this pier table is the work of a Scottish immigrant joiner working in the Upper Potomac River Valley of Virginia and Maryland at the turn of the 18th century. Shearer followed popular neoclassical designs in his tables, incorporating the fashionable tapered legs and spade feet of that style, but produced the table out of locally available solid woods rather than imported or veneered woods. The carved quatrefoil motif in the center of the skirt echoes the inlaid “Federal Knot” found on a chest of drawers he made for Christina Kramer (1993-325). An unusual detail of Shearer’s rear table rails is the decorative shaping. Perhaps this ornament was intended to finish off the back, making the table more versatile and portable.Mark(s)"Made By John/Shearer from/Edinburgh" in pencil on underside of top.ProvenanceThe table was in the collection of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge at Giralda, her residence in Madison, New Jersey. It was sold at her estate sale by Sotheby Parke Bernet 7 to 11 October 1975, probably as lot 1521. The buyer was Donald Howe, Cotesville, Pennsylvania, who later sold the table to John J. Snyder. In late 1979 Synder sold the table to Lindsay Grigsby, who sold it to CWF early the following year.