Images(5)

Pier Table, marble

Date1830-1845

Attributed to J. and J. W. Meeks

OriginAmerica, New York, New York City

MediumMahogany, white pine, marble, and glass

DimensionsOH: 36 3/4"; OW: 43 5/16"; OD: 20 1/2"

Credit LineGift of E. Charles and Cynthia Beyer in memory of Carrie Cole Lane Geddy

Object number2013-21

DescriptionMarble top pier table; top of white marble with serpentine ends and front and canted front corners; mahogany veneered skirt with crossbanded edges corresponds to shape of marble and is supported at the front corners by two sawn serpentine legs with boldly carved border at juncture with skirt and across the rear with a solid back, the ends of which have shallow applied serpentine legs; center of the back has a square mahogany panel surrounding a circular mirror; a shelf with plain incurving sides and front skirt is attached to the back and ankles of the front legs; sawn scrolled feet finish the front and back legs; feet have appearance of assymetical bellflowers topped with upright flowers at junctution with shelf.Label TextAccording to family tradition, this pier table was originally owned by Williamsburg residents Jesse and Catharine Cole at the Taliaferro-Cole House on Duke of Gloucester Street. The table descended through the Cole family until the mid-20th century. The Coles likely purchased this table from the New York furniture firm J. & J. W. Meeks around 1830. Perhaps they were influenced by Meeks’ commission of nearly $900 worth of furniture for the newly redecorated Virginia governor’s mansion in Richmond in that year. While Williamsburg craftsmen had provided fine furniture to local and area patrons during the 18th century, after the Capital moved to Richmond in 1780 most cabinetmakers left for more prosperous locales. Local patrons turned to Norfolk, Richmond, and northern firms like the Meeks of New York for their finer furniture. Joseph Meeks and his sons capitalized on the southern market by advertising in southern papers and by opening a warehouse in New Orleans from which they could reach the prosperous markets of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

A pier table is traditionally located against the wall between two windows. The name derives from this structural wall, known as a pier. Often a looking glass (or pier glass) hangs above the table.ProvenanceAccording to family tradition, the table was first owned either by Jesse Cole (d. 1845) and Catharine Boush Travis, married in 1813, or their son, Robert Francis Travis Cole (1818-1887) and his wife, Elizabeth R. Labby (1820-1885), married in 1842. Both couples lived in Williamsburg's Taliaferro-Cole House. The table descended to Robert and Elizabeth Cole's son, Henry Denison Cole (1856-1939) and his wife, Caroline Dudley Lane (d. 1950); to their niece and ward, Carrie Cole Lane (1899-1987) and her husband, Vernon Meredith Geddy, Sr. (1897-1952). It remained at the Taliaferro-Cole House unitl Carrie Cole Lane Geddy gave it to E. Charles Beyer, one of the donors.

Charles Beyer was befriended by Carrie Cole Lane Geddy while a student at William & Mary.